This Means War
by Fanatics of A Fangirl
Summary: It's time for the Grand Magic Games again, and Fairy Tail as well as the other guilds we know and love are all joining! Who will win? No one knows! But one thing they do know, is this isn't like any other GMG they seen before! Something big is about to happen... Also posted on AO3 and Wattpad, same username, thanks! Disclaimer: I do NOT own Fairy Tail or its characters!
1. 00 - Grand Magic Games

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Listen up brats!" Makarov yelled as he walked down the guild hall stairs.

Everyone's heads perked up to show that they were listening, especially a certain groups of mages.

"The Grand Magic Games are going to be here very soon!" Makarov announces, while everyone cheers with joy, "Now, do you know what our task is?" Makarov asks, a small smirk appearing on his face, "To show everyone that Fairy Tail is the number one guild!" He says, holding his hand in the air with his index finger in the air shaping a one, and everyone copies.

"Now I'm sure you all want to know who is going to be competing in this year's games, don't you?" "Just tell us already Gramps!" A certain pink haired dragonslayer calls out.

"Be quiet Natsu, that's what he trying's to do," Lucy scolds form beside him, then turns to Master Makarov and says, "Right master?"

"Right you are Lucy!" Makarov pulls out a piece of paper and says, "The mages competing in this year's Grand Magic Games are: Natsu Dragneel!"

"Oh yah, I'm all fired up now!" Natsu calls from the crowd.

"Gray Fullbuster!"

"Well this will be interesting" Gray says calmly from his spot next to Juvia.

"Erza Scarlet!"

"I won't let you down!" Erza states in a grand tone.

"Gajeel Redfox!"

"Gihi, I'm on a team with Salamander and Ice Princess? This otta be fun."

"Wendy Marvell!"

"Oh! Thank you so much, I'll try my very best!"

"And last but certainly not the least, Lucy Heartfilia!"

Lucy perks up her head, as she was not expected to be chosen. Natsu picks her up in a hug, and everyone comes over to congratulate her.

Makarov simply chuckles at the girl's expression of shock, he knew that she would thank him later, she never forgot, so he just continued with his little talk. "They are the ones participating in this year's Grand Magic Games, show everyone why Fairy Tail is the number one guild, do us proud! Now let's party!"

They partied on into the early morning, but little did they know that this year's Grand Magic Games would be anything but normal and easy.

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey My Lil Donuts!**

 **I know this chapter sucks and it needs to be edited...but...I promise that the following chapters are much MUCH better than this. I just needed something to start this adventure. Once I finish this fanfic I will come back and edit it but for now: it stays.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Ressa**


	2. 01 - Guilds and Mages

**01 | Guilds & Mages **

_**The Next Day...**_

Lucy woke up to Natsu hugging her in a warm embrace, so much that she really didn't want to leave. Normally, she would kick and scream, but she was extremely exhausted from partying last night, and his body heat felt good. That reminds her, how did she get home? Wait, this is not her bed, it's...a floor! She never got home? That means she still must be in the guild, oh no, she needs to get up. Mira has probably already taken a million of photos of her and Natsu, a hundred if she's lucky, which she's usually not. Lucy got up gently, trying not to wake Natsu in the process, only to find everyone else asleep, and they were all with their respective partners! Gray was hugging Juvia close to his bare chest, as he probably lost his shirt...again. Levy was curled up into a little ball with Gajeel's arms around her, they're so cute together! She was so going to tease Levy about this later. Lisanna was wrapped up in a warm embrace from Bixlow and his "babies", Evergreen was huddled into what Elfman would call a "manly" embrace, and Mira was laying on top of Laxus' chest, even Happy and Carla were together! Lucy quietly squealed to herself, she had to go get her camera! Little did Lucy know, a certain she-demon had already taken everyone's pictures, especially of Lucy and Natsu. Mira was so good at her job, sometimes it scared her! Mira simply giggled quietly and cuddled more into her soon to be boyfriend's chest.

* * *

"Ok listen up brats!" Makarov shouted from his spot on the upper floor, "Do you wanna know who we're going up against this year?"

"I bet you anything we're going up against Sabertooth this year," Gajeel grumbles.

"Yah tell us Gramps!" Natsu shouted, "Not that'll matter much, we'll still kick their butts!"

"I like your optimism Natsu," Erza said, 'patting' Natsu on the back, who looked like he was about to die, "But you never know, Sabertooth is quite an opponent, don't forget that the last time we did the Grand Magic Games, Sting and Rogue almost beat you and Gajeel."

"They were just getting lucky!" Natsu argued, "Besides, I planned that remember?! I was studying every move they made!"

"You sure did, I think that's the only proof we'll ever get that proves you actually have a brain," Gray said, smirking.

"What did just say pervert?!" Natsu yelled at Gray, getting fired up.

"You heard flame brain!"

"Fight me!"

"You're on!"

Right as their fists were about to connect, Erza stepped in between them, grabbed their heads, and slammed them together.

"Cut it out! Master is trying to tell us who we're going to fight!"

"Ouch Erza!" Natsu complained, "You didn't have to slam us together so hard!"

"That's what you two get for squabbling over childish things!"

"Ok!" Makarov, "Now that those two are settled with, these are the mages and guilds we will be competing against," He pauses and pulls out a paper, "Wow, very similar to the last Grand Magic Games we competed in," He says quietly, then louder adds, "First from Quatro Cerberus, or should I say puppies: Bacchus Groh, Rocker, Warcry, Jager, Nobarly, and Semmes. "

"C'mon Gramps!" Natsu complained, "Get to the interesting guilds!"

"I'm getting there child, that was only the first guild!" Makarov shouted, looking like he was ready to pull out his hair, "Second, from Blue Pegasus: Ichiya, of course he had to be in it, Hibiki Lates, Eve Tearm, Ren Akatsuki, Nichiya, and Jenny Realight"

"Those guys shouldn't be too hard to take out," Gajeel comments.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Lucy said, ignoring the next comment.

"Of course you would say that bunny girl," Gajeel retorts, "Gihi, you're just saying that cause they're all guys,"

"As I said, Hibiki is very handy with his archive magic" Lucy finishes her sentence.

"Nothing we can't handle!" Natsu says boastingly.

"Third, Mermaid Heel with Kagura Mikazuchi, Arana Webb, Beth Vanderwood, Risley Law, and Millianna, apparently they don't have a sixth member. Hm, that'll be interesting."

"I cannot wait to see how well Kagura and Millianna fight." Erza says in a somewhat excited, but more filled with proudness, voice.

"Fourth, we have Lamia Scale with Jura Neekis, Sherry Blendy, Sherria Blendy, Toby Horhorta, Yuka Suzuki, and Lyon Vastia."

"We'll see who comes out on the top this time Lyon, and I promise it'll be me!" Gray says to himself.

"Who're talking to Gray?" Natsu says, "You look like you're crazy!"

"Oh shut up!"

"Fifth, Sabertooth" Makarov says, "The ones on this year's team are: Sting Eucliffe-"

"Oh yah!" Natsu pumps his fist in the air.

Master clears his throat and continues, "Rogue Cheney—"

"Oi, you're gonna get it this year Ryos. I'm not gonna be nice this year!" Gajeel says.

"Will you brat stop interrupting me! Say your vengeful things in your head! It only makes you sound crazy when you say it out loud!" Makarov shouts angrily, seeing that the brats were listening now he continues, "Now, where was I? Ah, Orga Nanagear, Rufus Lore, Minerva Orland, and Yukino Agria"

Everyone starts to get up and continue their business thinking Master is done...but he's not.

"Wait!" Makarov shouts, and everyone turns their attention to him, "There's a sixth guild!"

"What?" Gray says, "It's not another dark guild like Raven Tail is it?"

"No," Makarov says calmly, "The sixth guild is...Crime Sorciere,"

Everyone gasps, but there's no one more surprised than Erza.

"The ones participating in this year's Grand Magic Games is Richard Buchanan, Erik, Macbeth, Sorano, Meredy, and...Jella Fernandez.

"What?" Erza says confused, "Jellal's competing?"

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey My Lil Donuts!**

 **Any better?**

 **(worse? 0_0)**

 **Hopefully not!**

 **Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Next Chapter: Quatro Puppies**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Rissa**


	3. 02 - Quatro Puppies?

**02 | Quatro Puppies?**

"Ok! Who's ready to get wild?!" The guild master of Quatro Cerberus asked.

"We are!" The whole guild shouted.

"Do you want to know who's going to be respresentin this year?!"

"Yah!

"And why do you want to know?" The guild master asked.

"Cause we're wild!" Everybody in the guild responded enthusiastically.

"Ok! First up, we have Warcry!"

The whole guild cheered at this.

Warcry simply nodded in reply.

"Second, give it up for Rocker!"

Again, the guild continued to cheer for the rest of the guild members chosen, until they gotten to a certain drunk mage...

"Now everybody give it up for our very own Bacchus Groh!"

Once this was announced the whole guild went absolutely crazy!

"Well this is gonna be a wild time!" Bacchus said, "Now let's hope Fairy Tail has some brains and they put that one chick in, you know Guildart's daughter...what was her name..." He taps his beer bottle that's in his hand to his head thoughtfully, "Ah, Cana Alberona! That's her name!"

"Sorry to burst your bubble Bacchus," The guild master says, "But it looks like you're going up against Nastu, Gray, that blonde chick with the keys, the blue haired little girl (Wendy was it?) Gajeel Redfox, and Queen Titania, Erza Scarlet, herself!"

"Oh," Bacchus said, "Queen Titania's goin at it again, eh? Well this otta be fun!"

"Well that's who's participating in this year's Grand Magic Games! Do us proud, because we're—"

"Wild!" The whole guild cheer, and then it was off to partying. Of course, Bacchus mostly drank rather than partied. Unless, you count slipping hard liquor into his guildmates drinks!

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey Lil Donuts!**

 **What y'all think? (0_0)**

 **Next Up: Lamia Scale!**

 **Thanks for Reading lil Donuts!**

 **Rissa**


	4. 03 - Lamia Scale

**03 | Lamia Scale**

"So Gray I will see you in battle once again," Lyon says, staring off into the distance.

"Who are you talking to?" Sherria says next to him.

Lyon face turns red and he stutters, but luckily Jura comes to save him.

"He and Gray have a special connection," Jura said, to which Lyon gave him a grateful glance and walked away, then Jura leaned down and whispered into Sherria's ear "He thinks Gray can hear him, it's weird," Sherria laughed boisterously, one because of what he said about Lyon, and two she's pretty sure she's never heard Jura said 'weird' before.

"Does anyone know when Sherry will be here?" Lyon asked, walking back to Sherria and Jura.

"Last I heard she was going to meet us there, but I'll ask when I see her soon!" Sherria said cheerfully, then gasped in excitement, "Do you think I'll get to go against Wendy again?! Or maybe even that water mage...what was her nam-"

"Juvia!" Lyon said, his gleaming with excitement, "This year for sure, I will get her to forget Gray and love me instead,"

"Uh-huh," Sherria said, clearly not interested, "And pigs will fly,"

"That's actually a possibility, given Kagura's gravity magic" Jura said thoughtfully, then looks at Lyon, "Now that I think about it, though, I thought you liked that one pink haired mage...what was her name?" Jura says, wracking his brain trying to remember the mage's name.

"It's no one!" Lyon says quickly before Jura can remember her name, "Besides, it's not like she'll be the one participating in the Grand Magic Games," Lyon says, the adds under his breath, "At least I hope not,"

"Ugh," Sherria whined, "The Grand Magic Games is so far away, I want to see Wendy, can't it get her faster?" Sherria asked, talking to no one in particular.

"I'm sure it will get here fast enough Sherria, but, for now, we need to start training. If you do fight Wendy again, this time you will win. Just as I'll beat Gray," Lyon said confidently.

"I Wouldn't get to confident there Lyon, that Gray guy can kick your butt, I mean he's done it before, right?" Toby said, now walking up to join his team, "I mean c'mon, he beat Rufus Lore and you have to be pretty smart to do that."

"Says the one wearing a sock," Sherria pointed out.

Toby gasped in horror, "This," he gestured to the sock around his neck, "Little Sherria is not just a sock. It is a _lucky_ sock, one that is sure to gain me victory in the Grand Magic Games!" He said proudly.

"First," Sherria said, rather annoyed, "Don't call me _little_! Second, it would be the guild's victory not just yours!"

She and Toby had begun to argue until Lyon broke them up, it wasn't until their Master threatened to spin them, though, that they left to go train. Even Jura was scared, which Lyon found rather funny. A man as big as Jura, a wizard saint none the less, scared of an old lady that threatened to spin him. Lyon couldn't help but laugh. As he and his team were walking to their training center, Lyon couldn't help but think about Ur and what she would think of himself and Gray...Lyon knew this year's Grand Magic Games would be different, how he knew he wasn't sure, it was just a feeling he got.

 _Well, as they say, let the Grand Magic Games begin..._

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey Lil Donuts!**

 **This was any better?**

 **Sure Hope So!**

 **Next Guild: Mermaid Heel**

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Rissa**


	5. 04 - Mermaid Heel

**04 | Mermaid Heel**

"Ugh!" Came a grunt from Milliana.

"C'mon Milliana, you've got this!" Came a voice from the sidelines.

She gave them a smile, but the person who just tossed her on the ground claimed her attention immediately.

Kagura smirked, "You had enough yet?"

Milliana returned the smirk, "Never, I'll keep going until I beat you!"

"That is the point of training," Kagura said smugly.

"Oh be quiet and fight me!" Milliana said, her temper rising.

"Careful there, Mili, you're starting to sound like Natsu," Kagura said, her smirk deepening.

"That's it!" Miliana said, charging Kagura.

* * *

"Don't give up Milliana!" Beth Vanderwood called to her friend, who was now pinned under Kagura.

When Milliana first showed up to Mermaid Heel, Beth didn't know what to think, not really. Who shows up to an all-girls guild with cat ears? At first, Beth didn't really trust her, but Kagura for some reason, took an immediate liking to her. Beth didn't really know why but she trusted Kagura enough that she just accepted Milliana into the guild—

"What're you smiling for?" Beth turned to see one of her best friends Arana Webb. When Beth first came to the guild, the first person she met was Arana. Arana welcomed her with women arms, and had sort of been a mother figure to her. Especially since she came to the guild when she was so young. Now that Beth thought about it, she looked to both Kagura and Arana as a mother figure, but Risley? She had been like an older sister to her.

"I'm smiling?" Beth asked Arana, genuinely confused. She hadn't even noticed.

"Yes, you are," Arana replied.

"I don't know why," Beth answered simply.

Beth realized that she really didn't know why she was smiling. Maybe it was because of Kagura, Arana, and Risley...or maybe it was because Beth had just realized something. She realized that she had another sister, Milliana. This time, Beth smiled as she was watching Milliana battle Kagura, she was a very formidable opponent. Beth was certain about one thing: Milliana belonged in Mermaid Heel, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"You're doing it again!" Arana accused.

Beth knew Arana was just teasing her, so she just smiled at her and said, "I don't see a reason why I shouldn't, do you?"

Arana just smiled at her and said, "Well since you're in such a happy mood, how do you feel about going for a round?" She asked, a challenge in her voice.

"Bring it," Beth replied firmly.

"Kagura, Milliana!" Risley shouted, surprising Beth, "Beth and Arana want to take a spin at it, you two have been going at it all morning!"

"But I've almost beaten her!" Milliana whined, who now had Kagura pinned under her.

"Save it," Risley replied, "You can train tomorrow, besides we don't want to tire you out too much, the grand magic games are just around the corner!"

"Really?!" Milliana shouted, excitement shining through her eyes.

Beth looked at Risley surprised, as well as the others did. They had all forgotten about the Grand Magic Games completely!

"Wait," Milliana said, looking as if she was deep in thought, "You said I'd better save my strength...does that mean I'm in the Grand Magic Games!" Milliana asked, stars in her eyes.

"Yes, you are competing in the Grand Magic Games this year," Risley said, humor shining in her eyes at Milliana's reactions.

"Are you going to tell us who else is participating in the games?" Kagura said.

"Well you obviously, Arana, myself, Milliana of course, and Beth," Risley said.

"So it's the same as last time?" Beth asked curiously.

"Yep!" Risley paused and looked at Kagura, "And don't worry Kagura, your big sister Erza will be fighting as well!" She teased her friend.

Kagura blushed, running her finger over her sword nervously, "I wasn't even going to ask," She muttered, then added, "At least not immediately," Everyone laughed, it was rare that their friend who was so strong got nervous.

"Let's just this year's Grand Magic Games is a little less chaotic," Arana added thoughtfully.

"A little?" Risley asked, eyebrow raised.

"Okay," Arana said admittedly, "A _lot_ less chaotic,"

"Something _has_ changed this year, though" Risley said seriously, enough that Milliana stopped squealing while jumping around.

"What is it?" Milliana asked innocently.

"There's a new guild," Risley said, her voice sounding strangely grim.

"Who?" Kagura asked.

"Crime Sorciere...Jellal's guild"

"What?" Kagura and Milliana said at the same time.

"Jellal is competing?" Kagura asked.

Beth was a little confused, she thought Kagura and Milliana had forgiven Jellal. Then again, they didn't have much time to forgive him when they last saw him.

* * *

It was true, Kagura had forgiven Jellal and so did Milliana. At least, that's what Kagura _thought._ Kagura loved Erza, she really did love her. They had a sisterly bond that could not be broken, and that was why Kagura had forgiven Jellal in the first place, but at this moment Kagura couldn't help but feel a little bitter. She knew Milliana had forgiven Jellal too, but when Kagura locked eyes with Milliana, she knew one thing was for certain.

Mermaid Heel would be giving it their all this year, and they _will_ beat Crime Sorciere. They would win the Grand Magic Games, Jellal or no Jellal.

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey My Lil Donuts!**

 **Not gonna lie: I REALLY loved writing this chapter!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

 **What do you guys think so far?**

 **Post your thoughts in the comments below!**

 **Next Up: Sabertooth!**

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Rissa**


	6. 05 - Sabertooth

**05 | Sabertooth**

"Sting!" Yukino shouted, "Sting, where are you?!"

All of a sudden a sleepy-headed Sting came out of his room, and looked at Yukino saying, "What is it Yukino? Couldn't it have waited till the morning?" He asked, his words slurry.

Yukino giggled, "Oh Sting, it is the morning. You're just a little behind,"

"Oh," Sting said, beginning to wake up and focus, "What is it that you need?"

"Oh that's right," Yukino said, "We need to know who's participating in this year's Grand Magic Games," She said, a smile on her face.

Sting's eyes widened, "What?!" He shouted, "Shouldn't we know by now?"

"Not really..." Yukino broke off, and played with her fingers nervously, "Considering that's your job,"

"My job?" Sting says, as if he could barely believe it himself.

"You are the guild master Sting," came a deep voice behind Yukino.

It was at this moment Sting really wanted to smack Rogue, because he had a smug look plastered on his face.

"But that means I can't compete!" Sting complained, "How am I supposed to kick Natsu's butt now?"

"We'll figure it out," Rogue said confidently, "But first, you need to get dressed," He said, pointing to Sting's pajamas, snickering.

"They're not that bad!" Sting argued, looking down at his striped yellow and blue pajamas.

"For a guild master they are," Rogue replied, "If I didn't know any better I'd say you almost look like Master Makarov. I didn't know he was your idol of how to be a master," Rogue said, teasing Sting.

"Why you little," Sting started, but was cut off by Rogue lifting his hand in the air.

"Now, now 'master' you need to get dressed and decided who's going to participate in this years Grand Magic Games," Rogue said, then walked away, leaving a very irritated Sting.

"Fine," Sting muttered, then turned away and went back to his room.

"Oh Sting," Yukino sighed, "What are we going to do with you?" She said softly, a soft smile on her face.

* * *

"Okay!" Sting shouted, "Everybody listen up!"

At the sound of their Master's voice, all of the guild members of Sabertooth turned to listen. Rogue, however, was just amused at Sting considering the mornings events.

Sting, seeing that everyone was now listening said, well more like shouted, "I have decided who will compete in the Grand Magic Games!"

At this everyone started whispering, at least they thought they were, but no one could hear Sting, so he did what any other Master of a guild would do; he shouted.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP FOR LIKE 1 MINUTE! C'MON!" Sting shouted impatiently.

Those who didn't know him personally were kind of scared, but those who knew him before he became the 'Master' were just amused.

Sting, obviously pleased that everyone had quieted down began again, "I have chosen these people to compete in the Grand Magic Games! First, Yukino!"

Everyone cheered for her, and Sting gave her a bright smile. A smile that is saved specifically for the white haired mage.

"Second, Rogue Cheney! Third, Orga Nanagear! Fourth, Rufus Lore! And fifth, our very own Minerva!"

At that everyone cheered as loud as they could, because they knew that this would be Minerva's first Grand Magic Games since the last time they competed. They knew this time she would actually be able to just have friendly competition without her nasty father breathing down her back.

"And finally!" Sting shouted, but held the suspense, "Sting Eucliffe!"

It was at this moment that everyone thought their master had gone besurk, and apparently Sting noticed this because he quickly said this vow sort of thing.

"Ok, so I, Sting Eucliffe, now renounce my position as the Master of Sabertooth for the period of the Grand Magic Games to the one, the only, Lector!"

Apparently Lector knew nothing about this, in fact, it seemed as if no one knew about it because everyone just looked at the cat with shocked eyes.

However, Rogue just stayed himself and said, "Of course you would find a way to compete in the Grand Magic Games, Sting," He said, his eyes shining with amusement.

Yukino simply giggled at Sting, which in turn made him smile brightly. Eventually, everyone joined in laughing, even Sting and Lector themselves. Everyone knew their master was completely serious, but they couldn't help it; it was very amusing.

When the laughing died down, Sting look at Rogue and said while smiling, "I had to do it,"

"Is that so?" Rogue replied.

"How was I supposed to beat Natsu on the sidelines?" Sting said simply.

Rogue just looked at his friend and shook his head smiling, "I guess we don't have to worry about that now do we?"

Sting just simply smiled at this friend, and they both started laughing which was a rarity for Rogue.

As Sting looked at his guild, he couldn't help but think of how far they had come. He was very proud to call this guild his home and family, and it was all thanks to the guild Fairy Tail; but that didn't mean they weren't going to crush them. It was going to go down this year, and Sabertooth would come on top.

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey My Lil Donuts!**

 **What are we going to with Sting?**

 **Oh my gosh, this chapter was (as most are) a blast to write!**

 **What do you guys think about it?**

 **Comment your thoughts below!**

 **Next Up is the Final Guild : Crime Sorciere**

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Rissa**


	7. 06 - Crime Sorciere

**06 | Crime Sorciere**

"Jellal," Meredy said, "Are you sure this is a good idea? What happens if you have to fight against Erza?"

"He'll fall on his knees and say that he cannot hurt the love of his life and that he surrenders" Sorano says, "He'll say it with grandness, and those weird girls from Lamia Scale will say something like 'that's the power of love!' or something stupid like that,"

"Are you kidding me?" Eric said in a mocking voice, "Jellal couldn't confess his love for his precious queen even he was about to be killed,"

"Stop being so mean to poor Jellal, he's just not...ready" Richard said, trying to defend Jellal.

"Richard," MacBeth sighed, "You have too good of a heart. Erik's got it right on this, Jellal's just too nervous."

"That's not true," Jellal said, finally speaking.

All of a sudden everybody saw a flash and all of a sudden Sawyer was there.

"What're we talking about?" He asks.

"Jellal's love life," Erik responds, unenthusiastically.

"Again?" Sawyer says exasperated, "You mean were entering the Grand Magic Games, and he still hasn't told her that he loves her? What happen to his whole speech last week about how he was finally going to tell her?"

"He chickened out," Sorano responded, shrugging her shoulders.

"That's not true!" Jellal said, "She was busy!"

"You've been saying that for the past 2 week Jellal! Just tell her already!" Meredy said.

"But how?" Jellal asked, "I've never done this before!"

"You know, I thought Fairy Tail was weird, but I'm pretty sure we just took that title. This place is just weird. How do we go from talking about breaking up dark guilds to talking about the Grand Magic Games, and now Jellal's love life. Instead of 'Crime Sorciere' this guild should be called 'Jellal's lame way of trying to impress Erza' guild," MacBeth said, a smile forming on his face as he saw Jellal's face turn beet red.

"My love life is not what this is about!" Jellal argued.

"Oh c'mon we all know that we're only joining the Grand Magic Games, because you want to see & impress Erza. I mean, I guess I don't blame you. You did make a huge fool out of yourself last time you participated. I mean c'mon, how do you lose a match by laughing?" Sorano said, trying to hold back laughter at the memory.

"I think this guild is more about 'let's tease Jellal and make his life miserable' rather than 'let's impress Erza'," Jellal muttered, but like normal Erik heard him.

"Hey you were the one who asked us to join your guild remember?" Erik said defensively.

"Oh I remember all right," Jellal replied, "In fact, I'm pretty sure I still have the bruises to prove it."

"Those were the good days..." Sawyer said, as if he were reminiscing.

"Anyway" Meredy interrupted, "Back to the Grand Magic Games, why did we join if not to impress Erza?" She asked curiously.

"Because I'm still getting the weird energy that Zeref is still around there," Jellal said.

"But Jellal" Meredy said, "Natsu killed Zeref in the Alvarez war, I'm honestly surprised the 100 year quest only took them a year to complete. I mean, they shouldn't even be back to participate in the Grand Magic Games,"

"I know," Jellal replied, "But something tells me that the Eclipse wasn't destroyed fully, that's why I want to join the Grand Magic Games,"

"I don't see how it could still be standing, Natsu drove a freakin' dragon straight towards it," Erik said, "And dragons are pretty freakin' heavy,"

"I can't help but have a feeling that somethings going to go wrong, and I want to be there to see if it's the Eclipse," Jellal said, then he muttered "I also want to be there to protect Erza," Jellal immediately looked up at Erik knowing that he heard him and said, "Do not repeat what I just said."

"Shouldn't have said that boss," Erik said, smirking, "Honesty is my policy when it comes to the Oracion Seis,"

All of a sudden Sorano clapped her hands and said, "Ooooh, what'd he say?"

"I'll tell you later, don't want to tease him too much. Besides, it'll be more fun to tease him in front of Erza." Erik says smugly.

"You all live to torture me don't you?" Jellal said, tiredly.

"Don't forget you were the one who asked us to join!" Sorano said in a cheerful voice, then she and the rest of the Oracion Seis walked out of the guild.

Their guild wasn't much, in fact, it was more like a cave. They chose a cave that was located in the forest, and was barely visible. The cave itself was really nice after they had cleaned it up. It had little rivers, furnishing, and even separate bedrooms, since they all lived in the guild. It was more like their home than a guild. In a way, Jellal, the Oracion Seis, and Meredy had found family in each other. It was nice.

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey My Lil Donuts!**

 ***sighs* poor Jellal...**

 **However...he's not a poor as we think with his love life ;)**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Ps: Just in case you don't remember who everyone one is (I didn't ^_^) here ya go:**

 **Cobra = Erik**

 **Angel = Sorano**

 **Midnight = MacBeth**

 **Hoteye = Richard**

 **Racer = Sawyer**

 **Rissa**


	8. 07 - Preliminary Round

**07 | Preliminary Round**

"Hello everyone and welcome to the Grand Magic Games preliminary round!" Came the voice of the Grand Magic Games announcer, "You may be wondering how the preliminary round will work this year, aren't ya? Well last time we had this many competitive guilds we had our fun little maze, but the makers have stepped up their game this year! In the preliminary round each guild will choose two people. Now this can't just be any two people they must have intelligence, but also speed, and the ability to fight. These two people be able to get through are moving maze, which is where the intelligence comes in, but they also must have at least taken out two other guilds. Now I know that there are the main guilds, who I'm sure will be participate but there are still those little guilds who want to give it a shot. Right now there are over 70 guilds participating, and only 10 will make it through to the actual Grand Magic Games. For those participating make sure you are back at your rooms at midnight on the dot," Then the announcer's voice cut off.

"Well this will be interesting," Erza said.

"Yah, talk about a challenge. I say we put me and Lucy through, we'll win this thing for sure!" Gray said.

"Yah, not sure how I fee-" Lucy started but Natsu cut her off.

"I get the part about picking Lucy, but ice pervert over here?" Natsu said, gesturing to Gray, who was now scowling immensely at Natsu, "That's just dumb. I say we put me and Lucy through instead!" He said enthusiastically.

"No way!" Gray argued, "You'll screw it up for all of us ya pyro!"

"What did you call me?" Natsu said angrily who was now butting heads with Gray.

Then Erza stepped in between them and pushed their heads back so hard you could hear their necks snap, "Cut it out you two! It's clear that I and Lucy need to be the ones to go!"

"Um," Wendy said in a quiet voice, "I don't mean to be rude, but I could always go!" She said cheerfully.

"Nonsense!" Erza said grandly, "You need to save up your energy Wendy! Lucy and I can take care of this no problem!"

"Oh, ok!" Wendy said, trying to be cheerful. She really wanted to prove to people that she was more than just a little girl.

"Great," Lucy muttered, "Just great,"

Apparently Natsu heard her because he leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry Luce, you'll do great!"

Lucy looked up at Natsu and saw the sincerity in his eyes, "Thanks Natsu," She whispered back softly, their eyes locking, normally no one would've heard them...but Wendy did...and being as innocent as she is, she blushed at the little moment they had.

"So how much time do we have left?" Gray asked, completely unaware of what just happened between Nastu and Lucy.

Erza looked at her watch that she got from...somewhere, "It's 11:30, that means we have 30 minutes until the preliminary round begins,"

"Awesome!" Natsu shouted, "Happy time to grab some grub!"

"Aye-Aye Sir!" Happy shouted.

"You comin Luce?" Natsu asked.

Lucy shrugged an apology, "Maybe later Natsu,"

Lucy thought she saw a flicker of sadness in Natsu's eyes, but it was gone as quick as it was there. She must have just imagined it, "Ok! See ya later then! C'mon Happy!"

"Ok, well I'm going to go look around and see what I can find," Gray said, then wondered off.

"Well I'm going to go find the rest of our guild, they should be here by now," Erza said, then she also started walking away.

"Oh, I'll come with you! Wait up Erza-san!" Wendy said, then started running after the red-head, Carla following behind her.

It was weird, Lucy didn't even know that Carla was there, she was too quiet.

* * *

 **(A:N - Switching to First Person P.O.V.)**

 _ **Lucy**_

 _I guess I'll just find something to do. I probably should've gone with Natsu and Happy, but I really want to get a chance to talk to him...alone._

 _Ugh! What is wrong with you Lucy! You've been thinking about Natsu way too much lately, you don't want a repeat of what happened before_...

When Mira came into the picture. My feelings about Natsu were...confusing. I didn't know whether I liked him or I didn't...ever since that day that I woke up in his arms the day after Master announced the Grand Magic Games...

* * *

"Lucy?" I heard a soft raspy deep voice come and turned around to see Natsu behind me.

It was the night after Master had announced the Grand Magic Games, and I was alone, well I _was_ alone, in my apartment getting ready to go to bed before I looked at an old photo of me and the guild. It was back when Wendy and I had just joined; with my back turned to the window I didn't hear Natsu come in...sneaky guy.

"Yes Natsu?" I finally turned around to notice Natsu wasn't in his normal clothes. It was strange because he almost looked like a normal 19 year old. He was wearing gray, baggy sweats and a gray, v-neck t-shirt. Of course, he would never go anywhere without his scarf, so it was wrapped around wrist.

"Do you remember how you woke up yesterday morning?" He asked softly.

Almost immediately I blushed and sort of squeaked out a quiet, "Yes,"

He smiled softly, then asked, "Did you like it?" He asked with a shaking voice almost as if he was afraid of what I would say.

I just nodded, I didn't trust my voice to speak out loud.

At that he looked down and smiled brightly, "So can I do it again?"

I just gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"Can I hold you again? At least why you sleep," He asked.

I was about to say no, but then I remembered of how I slept without any nightmares or any haunting thoughts of Alvarez, so I smiled and said, "Um...sure," I say.

He looked up surprised, "Really?"

"Sure," I said, "But if you invade my fridge in the morning, I'll kick you out before you can say anything!" I threatened.

"Still the same Luce," Natsu said, smiling at the ground.

After that we both climbed into my bed, it was awkward at first, but eventually Natsu had his arms around me and we fell asleep in a comfortable silence. I don't think I could remember ever having a better sleep.

* * *

I smiled at the memory, Natsu and I had slept like that whenever we had the chance to. We tried to keep it a secret, but of course Happy knew. In fact, sometimes he came and slept with us. I found it super sweet, it felt like Natsu and I had a little family.

"Lucy!" A voice that sounded very familiar to me. Immediately I turned and smiled brightly at my little family,

"Lushie!" Happy shouted and ran into me hugging me in his usual place, "Natsu got us in trouble again, and we had to wash dishes AGAIN!"

"It wasn't my fault!" Natsu said, smirking.

I just looked at him and smiled.

"C'mon, it's almost time for you and Erza to do the preliminary round," Natsu said, grabbing my hand and tugging me in the direction of where we needed to be.

"Really?" I asked, shocked, "It's already been that long?"

Happy nodded, "Aye sir,"

I was about to point out that I wasn't a sir but...I let out a inward sigh. I couldn't see the point.

"Ok then," I said putting on as much of a serious face as I could, "Let's go," I thought I was pretty cool, but of course Natsu had to ruin it.

"Lucy? Are you okay? You look like you're about to fart, but it's not working." Natsu said, almost looking concerned.

The sad thing was, was that was probably how his poor little brain saw it, me trying to fart...lovely.

* * *

 **Natsu**

It was weird, as Lucy, Happy, and I walked towards our room. I couldn't stop looking at Luce. It was like that weird feeling I had, and goodness knows what possessed me, when I asked if I could hold Lucy while she slept. To say I was surprised she said yes would be an understatement, I mean, I thought I would walk out of that apartment dead, or at least with one body part missing. The fact that she actually let me hold her while she was sleeping, and she only threatened to kill me if I ate her food was awesome! Not only that, but then she continued to let me hold her every night? It was hard for me to find anything better than that, well of course, except for food. I've stared to notice a lot of new things about Lucy. Like how her hair shines like pure gold whenever she's in the sun, how whenever she's thinking her face scrunches up in this really adorable way that I find irresistibly cute, or even how she's a total cuddler when she sleeps.

I smile at that thought. Whenever I hold her, she always cuddles up to me as close as she can. Of course, she doesn't know this, and there's no chance that I'm going to tell her. In her sleep, she always cuddles closer to me, even though my arms are around her, and then a small smile appears on her face. Maybe it's because I have heat magic and I'm warm? I have no idea what that's about, all I know is that I like it!

"Hey flamebrain!" a really familiar and incredibly annoying voice came, snapping me out of my thoughts. It was only then that I realized we were now in our hotel room, and Gray, Erza, Wendy, and Carla were all in the room as well.

"What did you call me pervert?" I said angrily at Gray.

"Oh no," Lucy said, stepping between us, "You two are not about to fight right before I go into battle and fight for a spot in the Grand Magic Games, or do I need to be a bit more clear?" She said, glaring at the both of us.

Lucy was the sweetest person I knew on earth, other than Mirajane, but sometimes she could be _really_ mean. It makes you wonder how someone so beautiful could be so mean.

"Oh c'mon Luce!" I said, hanging my arm over her shoulder completely forgetting about Gray, "You know we're just playing!"

Gray gave me this confused look and mouth _"We are?"_ He said this when Lucy was looking away from him, so I easily mouthed back to him, _"Never! We'll settle this later ice princess!"_

At this he just got angry and I just smiled at him, knowing that he wouldn't risk the wrath of Lucy. Not when she was his best friend, and he look to her as his little sister. Their bond was close, but not closer than the one I had with her.

All of a sudden the room started shaking, and then poof! Erza and Lucy were gone.

"I guess that means the preliminary round has started," Wendy said, hugging Carla close to her.

"I'm sure they'll kick butt!" I said confidently.

"Of course they will!" I heard a voice coming next from me, and then I turned to find not only Master but the rest of our guild.

"Master?!" I said shocked, "When did you get here?"

"About 10 minutes before you did," Said a drunken Cana, a flask in her hand...probably full of beer.

"C'mon guys, the lacrima's up!" Levy said, entering the room and then once again running out to go watch the lacrima.

"Well I'm going to go cheer them on!" Wendy said cheerfully, then walked out of the room. The rest of the guild following her.

* * *

 ** _Erza_**

 _Ok Erza, concentrate. Do not let your guild down._

"You ready Erza?" I looked to my right to find Lucy.

 _Thank goodness she was here with me. I couldn't get through this maze without her._

"Yes, I'm ready. Are you?" I asked her, I was honestly curious.

She sighed and responded, "Honestly? No, but I have to be, there's no way I'm going to let them down."

I nodded an agreement in response.

"Ok everyone! You know how this works!" Came the announcer's voice, "3, 2, 1, go!"

At that Lucy and I ran as fast as we could. I honestly had no idea where we were going, but Lucy must have because she was leading us in all sorts of different directions. That was until of course we ran into some other guilds, five to be specific a total of 10 people.

 _Perfect, this will be our chance to take down half of the competition._

I made eye contact with Lucy and she seemed to understand, Lucy was a sister to me, and I had developed a strong bond with her. Almost as strong as the one I had with Gray and Natsu.

"Re-quip!" I shouted, transforming into my heaven's wheel armor. It was a bit of an overkill, considering these weren't very experience mages, but I wanted to get this over with as fast as I could. I quickly took out all ten of them, while Lucy collected their maps and began piecing them together, easily finding a way out of the maze.

"I got it!" Lucy said triumphantly, "C'mon Erza, let's go!"

Lucy and I ran as fast as we could following her makeshift map, and we were doing perfectly and we could see the ending until I saw a familiar face. They were only a couple of feet away from us running towards the ending as well. The two people running: Jellal and Erik.

"Jellal?" I said, feeling ashamed because my voice came out weak. I said it as a whisper so the only one that heard was Erik because of his hearing, but Jellal saw my lips move and he knew I was talking to him. At this point we were neck and neck, and then I heard Lucy.

"Look I know you have a thing for him Erza, but can you save it for later? We've got to get to the finish line." She said, in gasping breaths as she was running.

At that, I recovered my focus and ran just as focused and fast as Lucy, and when I looked behind us I saw Jellal and Erik, only a few feet behind us. I pushed my limits even farther, there was _no way_ I was going to let him beat us.

* * *

 _ **Jellal**_

"Oh look at that, we're running against your lover," Erik teased me, yet I could tell that he was afraid, and to be honest who wouldn't be? When you were in the presence of Erza Scarlet, you either rejoiced or cowered in fear.

Erik and I were only a couple feet behind them when I heard Erza, "Re-quip!"

All of a sudden, Erza was now standing in front us blocking our way in her clear heart clothing armor, and she didn't look happy...or nice.

Then Lucy turned around too, "C'mon Erza, let's make quick work of them!"

"Why of course!"

"I summon: Loki and Scorpio!" Lucy shouted, and now two celestial spirits stood in front of us...great.

We didn't even have time to react when Erza headed straight for me, knocking the air out of me. I know she didn't want to hurt me, she just wanted to beat me. Even Erik had a little bit of a difficult time with Lucy and her spirits, almost immediately a whip appeared around his foot, and then a major dust storm occurred blocking their view.

When the dust cleared and he and Erik could see again, Erza and Lucy were gone. Which could only mean they had reached the finish line-

"Give it up for Fairy Tail, coming in 2nd place!" The announcer's voice came, as well as did a whole excited crowd.

"Dangit Jellal!" Erik shouted angrily, while running, "Get your lover under control! You were completely useless against her!"

He and Erik were running as fast as they could, and had reached the finish line, both gasping for breath, "Well you weren't much help either," I muttered back.

"Looks like we have another guild!" The announcer's voice came, "Give it up for Crime Sorciere!" Only a couple cheers came, not that many...great. This year's Grand Magic Games was going to be fun.

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey my lil' donuts!**

 **What'd y'all think about this chapter?**

 **I know it's not very creative...like whatsoever (0_0)**

 **But nonetheless I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Rissa**


	9. 075 - Some Guilds Hide in the Dark

**07 1/2 - Some Guilds Hide in the Dark**

 _ **...Later That Night in a Dark Alleyway**_

"So," A burley, rough voice came from a man with brown hair, "Were your idiots smart enough to get past the preliminary round, Jose?"

"You're one to talk Ivan, last I heard your guild-mates barely made it through to the next round," Replied the voice of a man with dark black, and a devilish smile.

"Whatever," The man with brown hair muttered, "Just tell me you were smart enough to make sure that they won't announce us until tomorrow,"

"Have you heard our guild's name yet?" The man, still smiling for some odd reason, replied.

The man known as 'Ivan' chuckled humorlessly, "Don't test me Jose, we both know my guild, though it may have been disbanded, is far more superior to yours,"

"We'll see about that Ivan," Jose responded coldly, his smile now gone, "Just because you were some kind of big shot last time Fairy Tail participated in these pathetic games, don't forget that your guild was taken down by one single man, _your son_ —"

Ivan immediately pushed Jose against the wall, and placed is one of is large hands around Jose's neck, "Say one more thing about my son, and it will be the last word you ever say, got it?"

Jose, who was now showing fear in his eyes nodded his head rapidly. However, the second Ivan released his hand the tides were turned; now Jose had Ivan pressed against a wall with a murderous look in his eyes, "You might have the scavenger abilities of a raven, but now let me tell _you_ something; it is nowhere near the swiftness of a phantom. Don't mess with me Ivan,"

With that Jose released his hold on Ivan, hoping that Ivan wouldn't retaliate.

Surprisingly, Ivan just laughed, "Oh Jose, we both know that in a one-on-one battle I would beat you," Then almost immediately, Ivan sobered up, " _You_ don't—mess—with—me, or you _will_ be done for,"

Jose, deciding to leave it where it was nodded and said, "May the best _dark_ guild win," And then began to walk away, but not before Ivan called behind him.

"Don't forget the real prize!" Ivan shouted.

At that Jose turned around, and once again his devilish smile was back, "I don't see how I could forget. Trust me, this will be Fairy Tail's last stand," And with that he was gone, almost as if he really were a phantom.

"I hope you're ready old man, because this year. I won't take it so easy on you," Ivan said, before he too, walked away disappearing into the darkness.

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey my lil' donuts!**

 **Sorry for the short chapter! I hope to have the next one up tomorrow since this chapter was more of a filler chapter, but regardless what did you guys think?**

 **I hope you all are kind of digesting this crazy plot, because it's about to get even more crazy!**

 **Also, don't forget to leave your guys' thoughts and suggestions down below, you all have been a ginormous help when it comes to writing these things!**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Ressa**


	10. 08 - Introductions

**08 | Introductions**

 **...** _ **The Next Day**_

"Lucy-san! You look gorgeous!" Wendy complimented Lucy.

"Thank you Wendy!" Lucy replied, looking at herself in the mirror.

She was wearing her grand magic games outfit that matched the others. Instead, however, of it being purple and short like last year. They changed their color to red, and Lucy had exchanged her short dress for a white skirt with a brown cover, which was held by a belt, long brown boots, and a red sort of corset with lace as short sleeves and a white collar. In a weird way, she felt like a pirate, but she felt awesome so it was a win-win. She also wore her hair half up half down, with a red bow in the ponytail. Wendy had changed her outfit a little bit too, the only difference from her last one was the fact that the purple part was now red. She also wore her hair in one ponytail now instead of two. Erza, Gray, and Natsu, however, weren't in the creative mood at all so they just kept their exactly the same, they just changed the color red (Honestly, Lucy thought that was fitting, since Gray wouldn't wear his for more than an hour before he stripped them off, Erza would just re-quip into something else, and Natsu couldn't care less about what he wears as long as he has his scarf)

Satisfied with the way she looked, Lucy turned away from the mirror, and walked down the hallway that would eventually lead her to the main room, Wendy following her. Once Lucy arrived in the main room, she saw Erza sharpening one of her swords, Gray sleeping, and...and Natsu tickling Gray's nose with a feather...this won't end well. Luckily for her, though, once Natsu noticed her. He immediately straightened up and looked at her and then smiled his one of a kind smile.

"Nice outfit Luce!" He said, happily.

Lucy, being who she is, just smiled a small blush appearing on her cheeks. Erza, looking up from her sword, observed the two and just smiled at their cuteness.

All of a sudden a knock came at the door, so Lucy went to go get it. Surprisingly, she opened the door to find Gajeel standing there, then she looked down and found Levy.

"Hey Lu!" Levy said, giving her best friend a hug, "Are you guys ready?" She asked, "They're about to announce the competing guilds, and you're one of them."

At this Lucy looked a little confused and said, "I thought the guilds were already announced a while back?" Lucy said, remembering when she was first told she would participate in the grand magic games.

"Oh, that was just the other guilds letting us know that they were going to participate and who they were choosing. All the major guilds, like Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, etc., have to do that. It's a weird rule, but I guess it's to give the less experienced guilds an idea of what they're going against,"

"Ok, next question" Lucy said, "How much time do we have left before they begin announcing who participating?"

"Well, you would've had 5 minutes, but now...I'd say you have 2," Levy replied, calmly.

"Two minutes?!" Lucy said in a stressed voice, "I still have to wake Gray up!"

As if on cue, Natsu 'accidently' kicked Gray off the couch.

"What the heck?" Gray asked, irritated.

"Hurry up Gray!" Lucy shouted at him, throwing his white jacket at him, which hit him directly in the face, "And put this on! Erza, Wendy," Lucy said, "C'mon we need to go or we won't be able to see who made it through!" Those were the last words Lucy said before she ran off out the door to what the others assumed was the Grand Magic Games.

"Hey, does anyone know why Lucy was in such a hurry?" Natsu asked, confused.

Everyone simply returned his question with a look.

"Really man?" Gray deadpanned, "Did you really not just hear anything she said?"

* * *

"Hello everyone and welcome to the Grand Magic Games!" The announcer's voice came throughout the arena, the crowd replying with shouts and screams of excitement.

"I'm sure you're all ready to hear who's participating?" The announcer asked, to which once again he was responded to with screams of excitement, "Well then, we will be going in order of what place each guild came in, from last to first, at the preliminary round. I hope you're all ready!"

At this the crowd screamed even louder, making Lucy's stomach fill up with butterflies, she was honestly nervous and excited to see what place her guild came in!

"Ok, everyone give it up for the guild that came in last; Quattro Cerberus!" The announcer called out, "Everybody give it up for this year's participants: Rocker, Warcry, Jager, Nobarly, Semmes, and last but definitely not the least...Bacchus Groh!"

None of the crowd started cheering until Bacchus walked out in the arena, after that the crowd went wild. One other thing, that did not go unnoticed was that Bacchus winked at someone, once Lucy followed his eyes she found...Cana? Since when were they a thing? Lucy just smiled, she was so going to tease Cana later.

"Coming in 9th place; Blue Pegasus! Everyone give it up for Ichiya, Hibiki Lates, Eve Tearm, Ren Akatsuki, Nichiya, and the ever beautiful Jenny Realight!" Everyone, especially the girls, screamed for these members. Of course, it was probably just because of how handsome all the guys were, well except for Nichiya and Ichiya.

"Coming in 8th place; Lamia Scale!" The announcer didn't even have a chance to get any further, because the crowd had already started cheering, "Need I even say more? Everybody give it up for Sherry Blendy, Sherria Blendy, Toby Horhorta, Yuka Suzuki, Lyon Vastia, and the magnificent wizard saint Jura Neekis!" This was it, Lucy thought, she would definitely be going home deaf tonight, wonderful.

After that the announcer announced the rest of the positions the guilds came in; Mermaid Heel in 7th, Fairy Tail team B (Lucy didn't even know they had one this year, in Fairy Tail team B was Gajeel, which Lucy thought he was on team A, Juvia, Levy, Laxus, Mira, and Cana) Sabertooth in 4th, Crime Sorciere in 3rd, Fairy Tail team A in 2nd. It wasn't until the first place was about to be announced that the crowds finally got quiet. Of course, at this point, Lucy couldn't really tell since she had gone completely and utterly deaf when Natsu was called and had to walk out. The crowd really liked him, Erza, and Gray.

"Now the moment you've all been waiting for" The announcer said, pausing dramatically, which at that moment Lucy really wanted to strangle him for making them wait.

"Shadowalkers!"

"What?!" Lucy shrieked as she looked around and saw members of both Raven Tail and Phantom Lord. They had combined their members to make one team. Flare was not one of them, luckily.

All of a sudden, Lucy felt raindrops falling on her skin, and when she turned around she saw Juvia crying, and Gajeel holding her...

 _What was going to happen now?_

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey my lil donuts!**

 **So what did you guys think of this chapter?**

 **I tried to make it as dramatic as possible, but I struggled a little bit.**

 **One quick thing, this fanfic has been very lightly edited all the way through, so I'm sorry if you guys get confused at one point. Once I'm done writing it, it will be edited fully.**

 **SOOOOOOOO: thoughts on the name? I hope you guys like it!**

 **Leave you thoughts and suggestions in the comments below!**

 **Rissa**


	11. 09 - Memories

**09 | Memories**

"Sir, with all due respect...WHY WOULD YOU ALLOW THOSE GUILDS TO PARTICIPATE?!" Arcadios shouts at the former king, knowing it was his idea and not Hisui's.

Toma simply holds up his hand in response, asking for silence "I understand your concerns, but considering how last the couple Grand Magic Games have been, people have stopped coming. We need as much excitement as we can get this year to get the Grand Magic Games going again. Besides, I'm not worried about those guilds too much. If they were to get out of hand, they wouldn't last long at all. We have the best mages in all of Fiore right there to put a stop to them,"

Arcadios just looked at the former king in surprise yet understanding. It's sometimes easy to forget that while the former king can be fun and friendly, that he indeed was a king and knew how to rule a kingdom. The Grand Magic Games is free to get into, but it's also a big part of Fiore's life. It's something that the people can look forward to every year, and it brings up their spirits again. Without the Grand Magic Games, the people would have nothing to look forward to. If keeping the Grand Magic Games going means that they have to allow dark guilds to participate then so be it...

"I understand sir," Arcadios said, "But what does Queen Hisui have to say about it?"

The former king grimaced at that, "She didn't like it at first and wasn't going to allow it, but she begun to understand and gave the ok. The most she's worried about is what Fairy Tail's feeling,"

"And did you found out?" Arcadios asked curiously.

The Toma nodded, "I spoke to Master Makarov about it. He immediately responded saying that he would ask his grandson and Gajeel about it. I was told that Laxus said it would be a fun challenge and Gajeel said that it would just give him a reason to beat his former guild to the ground, and that he was ok with it. He didn't know how Juvia, that water mage, would take it though; he assumed that as long as Gray Fullbuster were there that she'd be ok,"

"I only have on last question," Arcadios said, to which the king raised his eyebrow, "How did you get this past the council?"

At this the former king just bellowed out in laughter, "Simple, if either of the guilds do something against the rules or cause severe crimes. They get to throw them in prison. It seems as if the two guilds joining was almost a win-win situation for us. As long as we have Fairy Tail on our side, we'll be just fine,"

At this Arcadios smiled, that guild was something else, "Of course sir, I understand."

* * *

 ** _Juvia_**

"Juvia," Gajeel asked, concern showing in his eyes when she looked up, "Are you okay?" He asked.

This made Juvia smile, this was a side of Gajeel that only those close enough to him got to see. Which was her, Levy, Lily, and even sometimes Lucy. Gajeel might be rough, but one thing about him is that he's a gentleman. He knows that girls need love every now and then. It's one of the reasons Juvia loves him; she loved him because he was her older brother and she was his little sister. This is how it's been ever since she joined Phantom Lord and met him.

"Juvia's ok Gajeel-san," Juvia said, wiping her tears away from her face, "Juvia was just a little shocked at seeing them,"

"I'm sorry Juvia," Gajeel said, hanging his head down.

Juvia just looked up at him in confusion, "What does Gajeel-san mean?"

"I knew they were going to participate, in fact I had a say in it," He said, somewhat in shame, "I just thought that this would be a go way for us to get back at them,"

"Gajeel-san, it's ok," Juvia said, firmly, "Juvia will indeed kick their butts and get back them," She said, a fierce look in her eyes, "Both Phantom Lord _and_ Raven Tail,"

At that, Gajeel looked up at her and gave her a knowing grin then gently let her go seeing that she was ok and walked over to Levy and Lily who were looking at him with concern; which immediately disappeared once they saw that he was grinning.

"Are you ok?" Juvia looked around to see Gray looking at her, deep concern showing his eyes.

Juvia just smiled brightly at him, "Juvia's never felt better!"

Gray just smiled back at her, and brought her into a tight but gentle embrace.

"Good, because we need you to kick some Phantom Lord butt," Gray whispered into her ear, to which Juvia smiled.

 _Yep, I've never felt better..._

* * *

 ** _Gajeel_**

*Flashback*

 _Oi! Where is all this rain coming from? It's been raining for the past week, straight; I'm gettin' sick n' tired of it! No matter where I go there's rain, and I'm pretty sure that's not supposed to happen in the middle of summer...I think._

"Gajeel!" I looked over to my right to find Master Jose looking at me with his grin that really makes you want to hit the guy...Oh well, his fault for messing with me when I'm in a bad mood.

"Oi! Where's all this dumb rain coming from?!" I asked, shouting angrily. I have a short temper; one that you really don't want to push it to its limits.

"Oh c'mon Gajeel, surely you know?" Jose said, grinning at me evilly because he knows that's I don't give a dang about what goes on in this guild.

"As a matter of fact, I don't; care to tell me?" I say, playing along.

"We have a new guild member," He said "She's a water mage," This took me by surprise, Jose rarely let's girls join the guild, he believes their emotions get in the way; makes them vulnerable. The fact that he let a girl into the guild, let alone a water mage that's a girl in which her power relies on her emotions is shocking.

"Let me rephrase that," He said, "She's a _powerful_ water mage,"

 _There it is..._

"Why are you telling me?" I ask, suspiciously.

"Because you're going to be the one to welcome her into the guild, and make her trust us," He said, simply as if it was obvious.

I chocked on my spit.

"Why me!" I ask angrily, my temper immediately breaking, "I don't want to talk to her!"

"Gajeel," He says firmly, looking at me in the face, "You _will_ talk to her and you _will_ be the one to welcome her to this guild...unless you prefer something else," He said, in a tone that offered no arguing.

I might have a temper, but I wasn't dumb enough to go against Jose. I've been in Phantom Lord since I was nine years old, and I'm fourteen now. I've been in this guild for five years, but that doesn't mean I should be the one to welcome newcomers...but looking at Jose, I guess I have to. Especially since I haven't been able to master my dragon force yet.

"How old is she, and what's her name?" I ask irritated, to which Jose responds with a smile.

"She's ten years old; her name is Juvia Lockser, be nice to her."

"Whatever," I muttered, "Where is she?" I ask, still irritated.

"She's in the infirmary,"

"Why?" I ask, sort of in a stuck up voice, "She's not hurt is she?"

"No," Jose replied, "Just go see her, you'll understand once you talk to her," Then he walked away...that didn't make me happy.

"What the heck?! You're just going to walk away!" I shout angrily at no one, my voice echoing of the walls.

I sigh defeated, "Guess I better go find her,"

* * *

As I approached the guild infirmary, I immediately heard sniffling and hiccups, like some had just stopped crying...thanks to my dragon ears. I really wanted it to stop, so I opened the door to find a little girl with blue curly hair in a plain white hospital gown huggin' some freaky doll.

"What's with the weird doll?" I ask bluntly, not intending it to be rude but genuinely curious.

I only realized my mistake when I saw her look up, and her deep blue eyes fill with tears.

"The boy with black spiky hair and a weird face really think it's freaky?" She asked, her voice breaking...then she started sobbing.

I _s this girl going through puberty early? What was her problem? Why is she crying?!_ I started to begin to panic.

"No," I said rushed, to which she looked up tears running down her face, "I just didn't get a good enough look at it...it's very...interesting," I say, trying my best not to be rude.

She surprisingly smiled softly, "Juvia knows you're just trying to trying to be nice, boy with black spiky hair and a weird face. She appreciates it but Juvia's used to it...She's u-used to-to-to people n-not liking her," She says, her voice cracking and then begins to cry again.

 _Oh Lord help us all...does this girl ever stop crying?_

"Hey it's ok," I said, in a total stupid way...She didn't stop crying. Ok, so talking wasn't going to work...does that mean I have to hug—I chocked inwardly—her?

 _I definitely have to hug her, she's been crying for two minutes straight!_

 _Here goes nothing..._

"Hey," I say gently walking over to her, "It's ok," I said as softly as I can, and pick her up in a gentle embrace. For me, it was awkward as heck I'd never done this before and it just felt weird, but she seemed to be somewhat comforted because she grasped unto my shirt and started crying there...great. Just what I wanted on my shirt, snot and tears...just perfect. Once it got less awkward I laid back on the bed, still holding the little ten year old girl in my arms and gently rubbed her back comfortingly. Eventually, after five minutes, her sobbing turned into hiccups and sniffling.

All of a sudden she asked, "Will you be my older brother boy with spiky black hair and a weird face," She asked bluntly, to my surprise.

Even more to my surprise I replied, "As long as you stop calling me 'boy with spiky black hair and a weird face' then sure,"

I felt her smile softly, "How is Juvia supposed to do that if she doesn't know boy with spiky black hair and a weird face's name?"

"Easy, Juvia Lockser my name is Gajeel Redfox." I said, surprisingly feeling a smile start to show on my own face.

"Gajeel Redfox," She repeated, "My big brother,"

"Juvia Lockser," I copied her, "My little sister,"

After that, we just kind of sat there until she felt better to meet the rest of the guild. The rain never stopped, and she really didn't smile much after that, but at least she stopped crying.

 _The rest was history after that..._

* * *

I smiled proudly at Juvia.

 _You'll be just fine sis._

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey my lil donuts!**

 **So this was by far my favorite chapter to write! As I'm writing this fanfic, I've noticed that my thoughts have begun to stray a little actual plot as you can see. So please just respect that the facts won't be 100% correct, but from my imagination just like other fanfics. Regardless, I hoped all enjoyed this chapter! Also don't forget to leave you guys' thoughts in the comments below!**

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Rissa**


	12. 10 - Never

**10 | Never**

 ** _...Three Days Earlier_**

"Gajeel, Laxus, come here," Master Makarov said from the bar in the guildhall.

The rest of the guild was out training for the Grand Magic Games, and Gajeel and Laxus had both just returned from their own individual mission.

The two reluctantly walked over, wanting to go home and take the rest of the day off.

"What?" Gajeel asked, sharply.

"Watch it boy," Makarov replied, "I've just gotten word from Queen Hisui and the former king,"

Gajeel and Laxus look at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

"Apparently Raven Tail _and_ Phantom Lord are participating in this year's Grand Magic Games," Makarov says.

Gajeel takes a deep breath struggling to contain his anger, "And you're going to let them aren't you?" He asks, gritting his teeth.

"That's what you're here to talk about," Makarov replies simply.

"What do you think lightning boy?" Gajeel asks Laxus.

Laxus, though irritated by Gajeel's nickname replies, "I say we let them," He says, much to Gajeel and Makarov's surprise, "As long as we get to kick their butts, which we will, I don't see much of a problem. It's not like they're going to win. Last time I checked, Phantom Lord isn't that strong and I took out Raven Tail by myself. If they get into any trouble, then we'll be there to sort it out, let them make fools out of themselves,"

Gajeel looks at Laxus almost as if he were processing what Laxus, then he slowly nods in agreement.

"I'm with lightning boy-," Gajeel starts.

"Stop calling me lightning boy," Laxus says irritated, not be able to withstand the name any longer.

"Very well," Makarov says, nodding, "I'll contact Queen Hisui and the former king, letting them know that we'll be ok with it,"

Gajeel and Laxus both nod.

"Gajeel!" Levy shouts, opening the guild doors.

"What is it shrimp?" Gajeel asks, walking over to her.

"You're late," Levy says simply.

"Late for what?" Gajeel sasks.

"For the training," Levy says, slightly irritated that the iron dragon slayer forgot.

"Oi, that's right," Gajeel says, then picks up Levy, "Guess we better get started pretty quickly then huh? We've lost a lot of daylight, gihi," He says, smirking, then runs off with Levy on his shoulder.

"Put me down!" Levy shouts.

Gajeel just chuckles.

"Well those two are awfully close," Laxus says, watching the two.

"Laxus," Makarov says.

"Yah Gramps?" Laxus replies.

"Don't let your guard down around Ivan," Makarov says.

"Never,"

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey my lil' donuts!**

 **So sorry for the short chapter!The next chapter will be much longer! What do you guys think about it so far? :) Thanks to those of you who have stuck around! And thanks to all of you for reading!**

 **Random question: Have any of you heard the new song "Side Effects" by The Chainsmokers? What do you guys think of it? Leave your thoughts in the comments!**

 **Rissa**


	13. 11 - It's Been So Long

**11 | It's Been So Long**

 _ **Lucy**_

"Oi Lucy!" Natsu shouts to my right, "You ready?" He asks, smiling.

I nod enthusiastically, a smile gracing my face.

"All right let's go!" Natsu shouts, as always, pumping his fist in the air.

"Would you calm down?" Gray says, coming out of his room in the small apartment given to us, "Some of us are trying to sleep ya know."

"Ah come on Gray," Natsu says, somehow still smiling, "The games start in two hours, we gotta warm up!"

 _How is he so excited?!_

"Not everyone loves to fight as much as you do, Natsu," I say.

He just turns to me and gives me a big grin.

 _Oh this boy._

"Happy!" Natsu calls.

"Aye sir?" Happy says sleepily, walking out rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes.

"Ready to go train and taste all the foods Crocus can offer us?" Natsu says, giving Happy a mischievous grin.

"Aye sir!" Happy shouts, no longer tired at the thought of food.

Then before you know it, they're out of the apartment saying they will meet us there thirty minutes before the games start.

"Where are Natsu and Happy?" Erza says, sounding rather unhappy that they're not here.

 _Oh crap._

"U-um," I stutter, trying to find a cover up for them, looking to Gray for help.

'You're on your own,' he mouths to me.

 _You're freaking dead Gray Fullbuster!_

"They went to go train," I say.

 _Well it's true...sort of._

Erza looks at me for a minute.

 _Shoot! Does she know I'm hiding something?_

Then she nods in approval, "Good, they could use a warm up. Did they say when they would be back?"

"Surprisingly," I scoff, "They said they would meet us there thirty minutes before they started."

Erza lifts her hand up to her chin thoughtfully, "That's cutting it rather close," Then she looks at me, "However, we have more important matters to discuss. As you two already know, the games this year are different."

Both Gray and I nod in her direction.

"Do you know what they're like?" Gray asks curiously.

"Unfortunately, we only know very little," Erza says, then continues, "As usual, there will be battles but the first two days will be different from last years. The reason why the preliminary round was the same was to see what guilds really were the strongest, considering everyone knew what to expect."

I nod in agreement, "That makes sense, but what could be coming up this year?"

No matter how much I thought I couldn't think of anything.

Gray and Erza shrug.

"I guess will find out," Gray says.

"Should we see if the other guilds know anything?" I ask.

"No," Erza says, "As of right now, they are our enemies."

At that, Gray smirks and I sport a small one of my own.

Although the other guilds are considered very good friends of ours, they're going down.

However, another thought crosses my mind and my smirk falls.

"What about Raven Tail and Phantom Lord?" I ask worriedly.

"I don't think they'll be much trouble," Gray says, bored, "It's not like their guild is much of a challenge without Juvia and Gajeel. Besides, we've gotten much stronger since then."

"Not that I don't agree with you," Erza says, "But that doesn't mean that they have grown stronger too. Did you recognize any of those members they had with them?" Erza says.

"Now that I think about it," I say, "I think you're right, I didn't recognize any of those members from the last time," I say, trying my hardest to think of every single members from Raven Tail and Phantom Lord.

"It was so long ago," I say, my voice coming out in a soft whisper, "And so much has happened since then that it's hard to remember though,"

Gray and Erza look up at me, a look in their eyes that I can't quite describe.

It wasn't pity, it wasn't sadness. It was more of recognition and understanding.

Ever since Alverez, things have been a little different in Fairy Tail.

I mean, the fact that Natsu was—is—E.N.D. Etherious Natsu Dragneel still blows our minds away.

It's still so hard to believe that someone like Natsu could have been so evil.

Not to mention that Gray is now more in tune with his demon slayers magic and is starting to become stronger.

 _And his feelings for Juvia as well._

I smile at the thought.

They're not the only ones either.

I smile brightly looking at Erza.

Everyone's been getting a little closer to their significant other.

 _Even maybe Natsu and me?_

I dismiss the question as quick as it crosses my mind.

There have even been some unusual romances between others guilds.

I giggle inwardly at the thought of a certain pink-haired mage and a white-haired mage.

 _Everything's happening so fast._

"Lucy?" Gray asks, looking at me.

"Yah?" I reply.

"Guess you must've zoned out for a bit, Erza and I are going to go get breakfast, you coming?" He asks, waiting for my answer.

I think about it for a moment then shake my head.

 _It will be nice to be alone for a while._

I haven't even had the chance to collect my own thoughts about Raven Tail and Phantom Lord. Especially considering that both guilds, in a way, directly affected me.

Gray nods and then makes his way out of the apartment, Erza's already out the door in front of him.

Once they're gone I breathe out a sigh of relief.

 _Finally ,I can take a nice relaxing bath!_

That is, before I hear a knock on the door.

 _Ahhhhh! Can't a girl just take a freaking bath!? Is that too much to ask?!_

"Lucy?" I hear Yukino's voice through the door.

 _Yukino? I wonder what she wants to talk about?_

I open the door and greet Yukino with a hug and a smile.

"Whatcha need Yukino?" I ask nicely.

 _I might still be miffed about my bath, but Yukino's too sweet to get mad at._

"Do you think Sting likes me?!" She blurts out.

I'm taken aback.

 _Where the heck is this coming from?_

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Yukino blushes as if she just realized what she said, then looks at me and waves her hands around franticly, "Forget I ever said anything, that wasn't even what I meant to ask," She says, her faces bright red.

I laugh at her little outburst then grab her hands and usher her inside the little apartment, "Calm down Yukino," I say, smiling, "First of all, you cannot just say something like that and not expect me to ask questions. Second of all, what brings this on?" I ask excitedly.

"Well..." Yukino says.

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Anyway! I hope you enjoyed this!**

 **Tell me your guys' thoughts in the comments below!**

 **Also, who's excited for the FAIRY TAIL SEQUAL!?**

 **I can't believe it's actually happening!**

 **Not to mention the anime that's coming out for Fairy Tail as well as Mashima's new manga!**

 **What are your guys' thoughts on Eden's Zero?! I really love it so far!**

 **Once again I hope you enjoyed!**  
 **Next chapter will be out tomorrow!**

 **Chapter 22 - Sting and His Words**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Rissa**


	14. 12 - Sting and His Words

**12 | Sting and His Words**

 _ **Yukino**_

I look at Lucy staring at me expectantly, but I remain silent trying to collect my thoughts.

I still can't believe what he said.

* * *

 _"Yukino?" I hear Sting call my name._

 _"Yes Master?" I reply._

 _"Oh c'mon, don't call me that," Sting says, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, "It makes me feel old," He says, chuckling softly._

 _I giggle as well in response._

Well this is a little awkward.

 _"Is there something you needed?" I ask, trying my best not to come off as rude,_

 _"Oh yah!" Sting says, "Um...I...um," He pauses, "Dang this is a lot harder than I thought it would be," He says, "Um, I was wondering if you would...like to..." He looks around and I raise my eyebrows expectantly._

What does he want?

 _"Would you like to...go on a...," He stops again, and I suddenly realize what he's doing._

Sort of.

Is he asking me on a date?!

 _"Would you like to go training with me, Rogue, and Minerva?" He blurts out, smiling nervously at me._

 _I feel a twinge of disappointment creep into my heart._

 _But I don't let him know that._

 _"Of course!" I say smiling._

 _"Awesome!" Sting says, his confidence returning in a flash, "We'll be training at the arena in thirty minutes," He says, "It's open to all the guilds and no one is allowed to get in but us. It's just to help us get used to the feel of being in the arena again."_

 _"Ok, I'll see you then," I say, smiling sweetly._

 _Then we went our separate ways._

 _However, I swear I heard someone groaning and smacking their foreheads behind me, but I paid no attention to it._

There's no reason to.

* * *

I told all of this to Lucy who just sat there listening to my story, occasionally popping in to ask questions to clarify.

"So?" I ask Lucy once I'm done, "What do ya think?"

"I think Sting has a serious crush on you, but is way too nervous to ask you on a date," Lucy says, not an ounce of doubt in her voice.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

Lucy nods, "When did this happen again?" She asks.

"Yesterday morning," I answer.

"Hmmmmm, do you mind if I tell Juvia and Levy?" Lucy asks, something glinting in her eyes.

"Of course," I say, smiling, "I was going to tell them anyway, but I don't know if I'll have much time to talk after today,"

Lucy nods in understanding, "You'll have to come see us after the games," She says, "Especially so we can discuss your dragon slayer a little more," She says winking, causing a blush to grace my face.

That doesn't stop me from teasing her back.

"You're one to talk, what about you and Natsu eh?" I tease her, wiggling my eyebrows.

Normally I'm not this forward, but when you hang around Fairy Tail girls, you don't really have a choice in the matter.

Lucy blushes, a bright red color, "W-what a-are you talking about?!" She asks bombastically, "We're just friends!" She exclaims.

"Uh-huh, I _totally_ believe you," I say, smiling teasingly at her.

"Oh whatever," She mutters, then looks at the clock, "Shoot! We only have an hour till the Grand Magic Games and we're supposed to me Natsu there in thirty minutes."

As if on cue, her stomach growls.

"And I still have eaten breakfast as you can tell," She says, a tint of pink splashing on her cheeks.

"Let's fix that shall we?" I say, standing up reaching my hand to her.

"We shall," Lucy says back smiling, then we laugh and head out of the apartment to get Lucy some food.

 _I'm so happy I met her..._

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey my lil donuts!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Tell me what you guys think in the comments!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Rissa**


	15. 13 - Master? More Like Moron!

**13 | Master? More Like Moron!**

 _ **Sting**_

"Oh my gosh! I cannot believe you actually said 'training'!" Olga blurted out, laughing at my stupid mistake this morning.

"It's not funny," I grumbled angrily under my breath, "Besides, what else was I supposed to say?! 'Hey Yukino would you go on a date with me'?"

Olga just started laughing again while Rogue and Minerva looked at me like I was crazy.

"That is the point of asking someone out young master," Minerva says.

"Master?" Olga says through his laughter, "More like moron!"

"Hey!" I shout, getting ready to beat him to a pulp.

"Now, now," Rogue says, "Let's night fight over this. Instead—"

"Instead we get this idiot over here to ask Yukino on a real date, instead of a 'training session'," Minerva says, a small smile on her face.

"Exactly," Rogue nods his head in agreement.

"Maybe he should dress in a suit this time," Rufus says thoughtfully from his spot in the corner of the main room of the room.

"Possibly," Minerva says, "However, I think we should keep it casual since it's their first time,"

"Maybe he should ask her on another training session," Olga says, apparently unable to stop laughing.

"He really is an idiot," Rufus says, smiling at the thought.

"Oi!" I shout angrily, "That 'idiot' you're talking about happens to be right here as well as your guild master!"

Minerva simply waves off my outburst and looks at Rogue, "I swear, I feel like I'm talking to a child when it comes to him." She says gesturing to me.

 _What the heck is going on here?! Since when did I come off as a child?!_

 _That's it!_

"I'm leaving," I say irritated, getting up and walking to the door of Rogue and I's hotel room which only causes Olga to laugh even more.

 _Why do I allow him to stay in the guild?_

"We'll meet you at the arena!" Rogue calls, more of an order than anything.

"Have fun 'master'," Olga shouts before I shut the door in a mocking voice, "Make sure not to ask anymore girls on training sessions," He says, and I hear his loud, boisterous laugh echo through the halls of the hotel.

I sigh defeated.

 _Why is asking a girl out so hard?_

* * *

 ** _Mira_**

"Gajeel!" Levy whined, as I giggled, "Getup!" She says, trying to drag the dragon slayer of the couch by the arm. Then she looks at me, "Mira come help wake up the crazy lug!"

"Sorry Levy, I got my own dragon slayer to wake up," I say giggling.

"Hmph!" Levy huffs out, "Cana, you can help me!"

"Nuh-uh, no can do," Cana says, "I ran out of booze and I gotta go get more. No way am I going to be able to do the GMG without a good ol' bottle of wine to keep me going." She says, then makes her way out the door.

"Don't forget that the GMG start in less than an hour," I say sweetly after her, to which she waves her hand.

"Yes mom!" She shouts back.

All of a sudden Levy stops, then looks at me and smirks.

"Dragon slayers have really good hearing don't they?" Levy asks me mischievously.

I nod in response, "That's why I'm so surprised he's not up yet, Laxus usually wakes up within a minute."

"Heh, perfect." Levy says, still smirking.

 _What is she up to?_

I was tempted to follower but instead I stayed in place, making something for us to eat before the games.

 _Our dragon slayers will be hungry after all._

While I'm making breakfast I start humming to myself, more out of habit than boredom. It was something our mother did before she passed away, leaving me, Elfman, and Lisanna alone.

Little did I know...a certain dragon slayer was watching me...

* * *

 _ **Laxus**_

I stared at her, without her knowing and without shame.

The little blue mage was in her room rummaging around for something...a horn I think, while metalhead was sleeping on the couch, leaving Mira to her own thoughts.

 _Dang does she look beautiful like that._

She was moving around the small kitchen swiftly, making breakfast before the Grand Magic Games today.

 _The Grand Magic Games._

To say the least, I was not excited.

 _Who knows what kind of crap we're gonna have to go through this time. Something always happens. Always._

"Ya know staring at her isn't gonna make er' fall in love with ya," Gajeel says quietly from behind me.

 _Stupid dragon shadow abilities!_

"And you know that if you do that again, I will knock your teeth out right?" I say, turning around.

Gajeel just lets out a loud laugh, and walks past me but not before laying his hand on my shoulder.

"Take it from a guy who spent a lot of time staring, ya get a lot more done by actually doing rather than looking," He says, then walks away.

As if on cue, the little blue mage walks out, a horn in hand, finally emerging from her room.

She spots Gajeel immediately, "You have got to be kidding me!" She says angrily, "You finally wake up once I find a way to wake you up?!" She says.

"Gihi," Gajeel says, "Mornin' to you too shrimp!" He says, ruffling her hair as he walks to the table. His back to the blue mage.

"I'm not a shrimp," She mutters under her breath, which both Gajeel and I heard. However, I don't think Gajeel noticed that the blue mage was blushing.

 _Huh, would you look at that. Maybe Gajeel does have a brain behind all that metal._

"Oh Laxus you're awake!" Mira says, looking at me.

 _Is it weird that I like the way she says my name? It's totally weird..._

I give her a small nod in response.

"Well don't just stand there silly," She says, giggling, "Grab a chair and sit down."

Not be able to say no, I walk over to the table and sit down where she has quite literally prepared a feast.

I look over to Gajeel sitting next to me, who's give me a big crap-eating grin.

"Screw you," I whisper under my breath, knowing that he can hear me.

"Gihi, whatever _silly_ ," Gajeel says, smirking.

 _I'm gonna kill him._

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey my lil' donuts!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had a blast writing about Gajeel and Laxus! Am I the only who sees them as serious buddies!? Oh my gosh, I love them so much! Anyway what do y'all think? Leave your thoughts in the comments! Who's excited for the GMG to begin?! I AM! lol, thanks for reading!**

 **Rissa**


	16. 14 - Is That So?

**14 | Is That So?**

 _ **Erza**_

"Hello and welcome to the Grand Magic Games!" The announcer's voice sounds from the lacrimas around the arena, "I hope you're all ready because things are about to get hot!"

I hear Gray scoff from behind me, "Wow, could he be anymore lame?"

I smile at his antics, "Oh c'mon Gray, it's not like you have said anything like that before,"

"Well yah, but at least I don't say it in front of thousands of people," Gray says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"When do you think Natsu and Happy will get here?" I ask him.

"After they ran out this morning? I'll be surprised if they even show up," He replies, to my surprise.

"I thought you said they went training," I say, a little angrily.

"Uh—yah," Gray stutters, "They did but you know Natsu, the daft pyro says a lot of things," He says.

I narrow my eyes at him suspiciously, then think about what he says for a minute, "I guess you're right, maybe you should go look for them," I say, more as an order rather than a question.

"Yes mam!" Gray says, then rushes off.

 _Good. He knows better than to mess with me._

While Gray goes and searches for Natsu, I can go on my own little mission.

 _I'm lucky Lucy decided not to come to breakfast with us this morning otherwise I wouldn't be able to do this. Then again, I shouldn't really be doing this at all._

I walk away from the side of the arena where Fairy Tail Team A and B would stand towards the infirmary in the hallways of the arena. Once I get to where I'm going, I quickly make sure no one's watching to see me enter the door and quickly walk inside the infirmary, and lock the door behind me.

"I didn't know the great Queen Titania could be so secretive," A familiar voice comes from behind me, making me smile.

"Says the boy who can practically cause a riot just by mentioning his own name," I say, turning around to look at the blue-haired mage.

"Is there a reason as to why you wanted to meet in the infirmary, not to mention in secret?" Jellal says, curiosity edging his voice.

"Of course," I say in a teasing tone, "I just wanted to know how your fiancé was doing,"

Although his face is neutral, I see the edge of his lips quirk, "She's doing fine,"

"Really?" I say, feigning shock, "I thought she would've been a little upset, considering you've been engaged for what? Two years?"

"Three," He responds watching my every move with sharp eyes, "And surprisingly no, she hasn't made any complaints, at least that I'm aware of,"

"Is that so?" I respond, walking towards him.

"Yes," He says, walking towards me as well.

Finally, we reach each other.

I don't waste a second, and neither does he. I pull on the collar of his shirt, bringing his lips towards mine.

"I missed you," I whisper against his lips.

"I missed you too," He says, then I feel him smile against my lips, "I didn't know that great Erza Scarlet could be so passionate about things other than sides,"

"Oh shut up," I say, smiling, pulling away from him.

"Only for you," He replies, smiling back.

All of a sudden, I remember where we are and head back to the door of the infirmary, "We should head back, the games are about to start soon," I say, looking back him, "Speaking of which, you have a lot of explaining to do tonight,"

"Since when do I not have a lot of explaining to do?" He calls after me.

I simply laugh at his words, and walk back towards the outside of the arena.

However, once I get there, the only people I find are Natsu and Lucy.

"Are ya ready Luce?" Natsu asks her enthusiastically.

Lucy sighs, "I guess," She says, not very excited though.

 _Huh? I wonder why._

Natsu must notice this too, "What's wrong Luce?"

Lucy simply looks at him, "You know what's wrong Natsu,"

Natsu looks at her and gives her a small smile, "Yah, I know Luce, but there's nothing we can do about it now," He says, then grabs her, surprisingly gently, and pulls her into a hug which, even more to my surprise, Lucy returns gratefully.

 _Since when did they started acting like this? I know they have been getting closer, but I didn't know they were getting quite this close. What happened that has Lucy so bothered, and made them get this close?_

All of a sudden Natsu pulls away from the embrace, "Gray's coming, chances are Erza's with him too,"

 _Stupid dragon abilities! How did he not notice me before though?_

Lucy nods in response, and pulls away from the sweet embrace as well.

"Well there you two are!" Gray exclaims, coming from the main entrance of the arena, "I've been lookin' for you two all over the place!" He says, then looks around, "Where's Happy and Erza?"

"Happy's with Carla and Wendy who went to check on the other team and Erza?" Lucy says, "I don't know where she is,"

"I'm right here," I say, coming out of the hallway of the arena.

"Great, that means everyone from Fairy Tail Team A is at least in the arena, so we can start trying to figure out what today's game will be," Lucy says, a determined look on her face.

"Let's do this!" Natsu says, smiling.

 _How can they act so normal after what just happened?_

I shake my head, time to focus on the games, not things that aren't any of my business. Yet.

"First," I say, "We need to figure out who's on the Raven Tail and Phantom Lord team,"

They all nod in response.

"Alright then," I say, "Let's get started,"

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey my lil' donuts!**

 **So I will admit that this isn't my best chapter, but I needed to get past this part! Plus, I wanted to have a chapter out to y'all over the weekend.**

 **Anyway, what do y'all think about Jerza and Nalu?**

 **What do you Natsu and Lucy are talking about? (Don't overthink it)**

 **Also who's excited for the GMG to FINALLY begin?!**

 **The next chapter will be where we finally get some action!**

 **Leave your thoughts in the comments below!**

 **Thank you all for reading I hope you enjoyed!**

 **Rissa**


	17. 15 - Take It Back

**15 | Take. It. Back**

 _ **Lucy**_

I follow Erza, Natsu, and Gray closely as we try and sneak up on Raven Tail and Phantom Lord. To be honest, I wasn't that bothered by their being there. It more or less just gave me a boost of confidence, because in both situations we were outnumbered completely but still managed to beat them to a pulp. I don't how the other's feel about it though, but I think Juvia's alright at least; Gajeel hasn't shown any emotion to it whatsoever, though, neither has Laxus. I don't think even Mira and Levi know what they're thinking.

I shake my head trying to focus, what we're doing right now is serious, and we can't be caught. Sneaking in to another team's quarters, unless invited, could be considered cheating.

 _I just wish Natsu would understand the seriousness of this instead of acting like a ninja and making as much noise as freaking possible!_

"Could you at least try and be quiet?" I whisper harshly Natsu, who's supposedly 'sneaking quietly like a ninja' next to me.

"Ah Luce," Natsu whines, not bothering to lower his voice at all, "But how else am I going to make this boring mission fun?" He says, looking at me as if he expected something else other than the sharp retort I was about to deliver before Erza interrupted.

"Lucy's right Natsu," Erza says, smacking the back of Natsu's head, "You need to focus, we could get disqualified from the games if we're not careful."

"Like they're gonna disqualify the best guild here," Natsu grumbles under his breath, but chooses to live instead of saying this aloud to Erza.

 _Good choice Natsu, for once._

The longer we walk down the corridor of the arena to the Shadowalkers, the more nervous I get about this whole situation.

 _What would Phantom Lord and Raven Tail even gain from joining the Grand Magic Games? What makes them think they can even beat us? They must have new members. How strong are they?_

I look at Natsu, Gray, and Erza and gulp inwardly.

 _Stronger than them?...Stronger than Natsu?_

I shake my head once again.

 _Stop thinking like that Lucy! You have to think positively!_

But how can I when I get this feeling that this is only the beginning of our problems?

* * *

 ** _Gray_**

Once Erza had gotten Natsu to stop acting like the friggin pyro he is, we continued to move forward towards the 'Shadowalkers' as that is what they're calling themselves now.

As we were walking, though, I couldn't help but notice how on edge Lucy was. Every couple minutes she would shake her head or she would have this look on her face.

 _Just how much is Phantom Lord and Raven Tail being here affecting her?_

I don't know why Raven Tail would affect her, but Phantom Lord, I would imagine, would affect her a lot considering she was held hostage.

 _But she isn't scared of Gajeel or some of the other members of the old members of Phantom Lord who visit us once in awhile, she doesn't mind being around Juvia at all either so...what's wrong?_

My question would have to wait because not much later and we were at Shadowalker's quarters. In my opinion, it was kind of a waste of money to build each team a quarters but then again. If I said that out loud, everyone would call me a hypocrite considering I'm the one who's there the longest. To be honest, though, I wasn't expecting the old king and Queen Hisui to go this grand when re-building the arena.

 _They really went all out. They even have a friggin buffet hiding somewhere in this massive place!_

As we near their quarters I can already hear voices coming from inside.

 _We look like a group of stupid reporters trying to get the next big scoop. This is ridiculous!_

I can't hear them very well, but from the look on Natsu's face he can, and from the fact that his normally happy look is turning in to that of pure rage...something tells me it isn't good.

* * *

 ** _Natsu_**

I hear every word those cowards are saying, and I. can't. stand. It.

They're too coward to say it in front of our faces, instead they have to hide behind closed doors.

 _Bad decision._

* * *

 ** _Lucy_**

It all happened so fast.

I look at Gray who's looking at Natsu with a look of panic on his face, but before I figure out why Gray looks worried. Natsu shoves his way to the front of our little group bunched up close to the door.

"Natsu!" Erza whispers harshly, trying to pull him back before doing something he would regret.

Something tells me that by the end of this, the only ones who will be regretting anything are the people inside this room.

Natsu's face is _pure_ rage.

 _What could they have said to anger him so much?_

As if Natsu hadn't heard Erza at all, he breaks down the door. His hand gleaming with fire.

 _"Take. It back."_ Natsu all but spits out at the ten people gathered around a table.

I hear a loud laugh burst from one of the figures, who I quickly recognize as Jose, the old leader of Phantom Lord.

 _When did he get so confident as to laugh in the face of Natsu?_

"I guess the boy did hear us," Ivan, Laxus' father says, a look of amusement on his face as well as the other eight people surrounding him.

To say the least Natsu didn't like that.

"I _said_ ," Natsu says viciously, "Take it back,"

"I have no intention of taking back what I said _boy_ ," Jose says, somehow still finding this situation amusing.

"Fine, if that's what you want then," Natsu says, then lunges for Jose say but not before somehow someone gets in front of him and blocks his attack.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Comes the smooth voice of a woman with dark, black, silky hair trailing down her back, "You weren't going to attack my master were you?" She says, feigning innocence, "Oh dear, I was hoping we could go be friends," She says shaking her head, then looks up at Natsu and smirks, "But I don't think I can let you do that," She says, then as if lightning had flashed she shoves Natsu back, grabs a bucket of water and pours it on him.

Natsu looks up at her dryly, "You know my magic may be fire but that isn't exactly my weakness," He says bitterly.

"Oh, it's not?" The woman says, "Well gosh darnit, I thought I really had you there," She says, making her, I guess, guildmates snicker, "I didn't dump the water on you because I thought it was your weakness, sweetheart," She says, looking at Natsu, "I did it so I could do this," She says, then lifts up her hand.

For a second nothing happens, and I let out a breath of relief.

 _Thank goodness, she was just bluffing._

That wasn't the case though.

I look at Natsu just to make sure he's ok, but his face started turning pale. Almost immediately, I was filled with worry.

"Natsu?!" I ask, kneeling by his side, "Natsu are you ok?!"

He just shakes his head.

Then the worst thing I've ever seen starts to happen.

Natsu opens his mouth trying to talk, but he just starts coughing.

He started coughing out water.

He looked at me, and I could see it.

His eyes were filled with pain.

I finally understood what was happening to Natsu.

He was _drowning_.

On land, with no water to be seen.

I can't handle this any longer.

* * *

 ** _Gray_**

"Stop it!" Lucy screams, tears running down her face.

 _I don't even think she notices._

I looked at Erza waiting for her to do something, but she just stood there in shock. I can't say that I was any better.

"You have to stop!" Lucy continues to scream, "You'll kill him!"

"That is the idea," A skinny man with short, dirty blonde hair says, smirking.

Lucy is now full on crying.

All I do is stand there in shock.

 _Why can't I move?!_

However, minutes later I realize that it's not my shock that's making me stand still. It's the fact that both mine and Erza's chained to the floor.

 _How did that happen?!_

I look back up to see a man with almost white, blonde hair salute me with a cunning smile.

I suddenly realize that there's no worse feeling than having to watch your best friend drowning right in front of you, and there's nothing you can friggin do except watch!

 _Gosh dangit! I gotta friggin move!_

It felt like hours had passed before our guildmates showed up.

"Ivan!" Makarov shouted from the now burnt down door of the quarters, "Stop this nonsense right now! What good would it do to kill him now?!"

Ivan looks at his father darkly, a smile on his face, "Oh it would do a lot of good old man, but you're right in a way. It wouldn't be much good till kill him _now_. It would be a lot more fun to kill him in a crowd full of people," He says.

Jose looks at Ivan, "He's right, let him breathe Ameonna," Jose says to the woman, who's looking down at Natsu, a triumphant smile on her face.

Natsu coughs harshly, finally being released from her death trap, taking in deep breaths. Lucy immediately pulls him into a bone crushing hug, to which Natsu just returns, a small smile on his face.

"We'll finish this later sweetheart," The woman, Ameonna, says darkly bending down to Natsu's level, "And next time, I'll _finish_ it,"

"The chains?" Laxus says, coming in to sight next to Makarov.

"Son," Ivan says, nodding towards Laxus.

" _The chains_ ," Laxus repeats, completely ignoring his father.

"Very well," Ivan says, "Rakurai," Ivan says, gesturing to the short blonde, man who saluted me earlier.

Barely within a second, I look down and the chains are gone.

 _What kind of magic does he have?_

"We'll be leaving now," Makarov says, then looks at Erza as if he were warning her to say in her place.

It was then that I noticed she was shaking with rage.

It was then that the shock started to wear off on me and was immediately replaced with an uncontainable rage.

"Ah, but aren't you going to wait for a proper introduction?" Jose asks, a charming smile on his face, if you could even call it that.

"I think we'll be fine for now," Makarov says, then without another word, he walks out the door, Laxus following behind him.

Much to my surprise, once they walk out, Gajeel walks in. Gajeel gives Jose a look that could only be describe as death.

"C'mon Salamander," Gajeel says, helping Natsu up, supporting him with his shoulder, then they make their way towards the door.

"Still don't regret leaving Phantom Lord, Gajeel?" Jose asks.

"Not more than I regret joining it," Gajeel replies, coldly, then disappears out of sight. Erza, Lucy, and I following close behind.

Once we're back in our quarters, we quickly patch up Natsu as best as we can before the games begin, which is in less than ten minutes as I was informed by Laxus. Luckily, the time to start was pushed back a little bit, considering that some of the teams were still showing up and people were still being seated.

For the majority of those minutes, we just sit in silence until Lucy says what everyone's thinking, "What are we going to do?" She asks her voice coming out in a whisper.

I just look at her sorrowfully, not fully over what I just witnessed.

 _I wish I knew Lucy..._

* * *

 **A:N**

 ** _BOOOOM!_**

 ** _STUFF JUST WENT DOWN!_**

 ** _Hey My Lil Donuts!_**

 ** _So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!_**

 ** _Sorry for being gone so long!_**

 ** _I was kind of writer's blocked for a litte bit, but then I started writing and this is what came of it!_**

 ** _Was I the only who felt like crying when Natsu was "drowning"? I felt like a mosnter writing that scene but it had to be done._**

 ** _What do y'all think of my new OC's? (Ameonna and Rakurai)_**

 ** _What do you think of their names?_**

 ** _What do you think about the chapter as a whole?_**

 ** _Comment down below what you think!_**

 ** _Thanks for reading!_**

 ** _Rissa_**


	18. 16 - Our Little Secret

**16 | Our Little Secret**

 _ **Unknown**_

"I told you we've should've confronted them today!" A young girl with pink hair shouts at another girl with blonde hair, who appears to be about the same age.

The girl with blonde hair just shakes her head, "We've been through this already, we have to wait...it's not like I want to!" She retaliates back at the other girl, "You think I like waiting?! Huh?! Watching those I love get teared to shreds?!"

"It's not like you or your father ever cared much for us, Lexi," The girl growls darkly.

"Cut it out you two!" A girl with dark blue hairs says, walking into the room they were all currently staying in.

"She's right guys," A new voice says, creeping out of the shadows is yet again another girl only with black, spiky hair, "Stop fighting, we need to figure out how were going to approach this.

The girl with blonde hair, Lexi, sighs, "I just hope they believe us,"

"They will," The girl with dark blue hair says, "They have to."

"C'mon the games are about to start soon, I wanna at least see some butt get kicked before all hell breaks loose and we have to meet up with the others," The girl with pink hair says, then leaves the room, the others close behind her.

* * *

 ** _Natsu_**

I look out at the arena...more specifically...I look at the Raven Tail and Phantom Lord headquarters just across from ours. How lucky we are. We get to see every move, every breath they make. I look at them, their smirks burning in the back of my mind.

I can't say that chocking was the worst part...because it wasn't.

It was Lucy's screams.

I feel my fist clench.

 _They will pay._

* * *

 _Lucy_

"Nastu?" I call out, my voice quiet and gentle as I look at the dragonslayer staring at Shadowalker's headquarters.

I let out a sigh, "Natsu, please don't do anything rash," I plead, he must of heard the distress in my voice because he turns around to look at me. His beautiful black eyes staring back into my brown ones, "Let's just make it through today, okay?" I say, offering a weak smile.

"Ok," He says, and I see the corners of his mouth tilt up.

 _Ok then, let the games begin._

* * *

 ** _Gray_**

"What do you think they're talking about?" Erza asks me, as we stand side by side watching Natsu and Lucy who are on the other side of the room.

"I'm not sure," I say as I look at the two, "But I am sure of one thing, and that's that the pyro can hear us,"

As if on cue, Natsu turns our way and gives me a big grin.

I return it, "Told ya," I say, turning to Erza who is currently shaking her head.

"That darn dragon hearing," She mumbles under her breath.

"I heard that!" Natsu shouts from across the room.

"Good!" I shout back, "Then get your lazy butt over here!"

"You wanna go ice princess!" Natsu shouts, as he nears me and Erza, a spark of challenge rising in his eyes.

"Now now, let's not do this minutes before the games," Erza says, keeping a good amount of distance between me and Natsu.

"I agree with Erza," Lucy says, then looks around, "Where's Wendy?"

"I'm right here!" The young girl shouts from the door of the headquarters, Happy and Carla flying above her.

"Nastuuuuu!" Happy shouts, crashing into his best friend, tears falling down his face, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you!" He says, crying into Natsu's shirt.

Natsu just looks down at his friend and pets him, a soft smile gracing his face, "It's okay little buddy, it wasn't that bad."

"B-but," Happy stutters, "Everyone told me that y-you w-w-ere chocking and-," Happy cuts off, breaking into tears.

Natsu just continues to pet him, comforting Happy.

 _It's a wonder that the pyro can even be gentle, let alone comforting._

Huh? Who would've thought?

* * *

 ** _Lucy_**

I watch as Natsu holds Happy, a soft smile on my face. That is, until I hear the announcer's voice.

"Hello everyone and welcome to the Grand Magic Games!" The announcer yells through the speakers, "We apologize for the long wait, but considering not all the teams were here we couldn't start. However, now that they're all here we can finally begin!" The announcers says, but not before he is cut off by the loud, enthusiastic screams from the crowd throughout the stadium.

"That's right folks, the Grand Magic Games are starting now!" The announcer says, "And starting us off today we'll be the Tide Turners as a quick warm up round for our contestants! This game isn't too difficult whatsoever, at least, that is if you're a water mage." The announcer says, slightly slyly. "For those of you who are not a water mage...have fun! The rules of this game are simple, each contestant will simply have to move water from one bucket to another, sounds simple enough right? Not necessarily, not only are the buckets extremely large, but...we added a couple of surprises in there for the contestants. Each contestant will have exactly 3 minutes to complete this task...oh and one more thing, a little hint for the contestants," The announcer says, "This may be a warm up round, but it's just as important, if not more, as the others...Good luck! Each of the teams have 2 minutes to decide who will participate in this event, then we will begin!" The announcer says, then a countdown timer appears on a lacrimas in the middle of arena.

"Well it's obvious who Fairy Tail Team B are gonna pick," Gray says.

Natsu nods in agreement, "This is the perfect task for Laxus,"

We look at him as if he's lost a couple brain cells, which is entirely possible.

"Not Laxus, ya idiot!" Gray says, smacking him upside the head, to which Natsu responds by glaring daggers at Gray, "Juvia!"

"Geez, I know that!" Natsu responds angrily, rubbing the spot that Gray hit, "I'm not that stupid, I'm just trying to lighten up the mood."

"Well you suck at it!" Gray shouts.

Before Natsu can respond, Erza cuts him off by saying, "Enough! We know who they're going to pick, but who are we going to pick?" Erza asks, questioningly.

 _None of us are water mages, but I know someone who can control the water._

I look down at my key pouch to grab my key, but then a frown overcomes my face.

 _After years of looking for it, you'd think I'd remember I haven't found it yet._

"I can do it," Wendy says, looking at all of us confidently, "I may not have any water magic like Juvia, but I can use the air and wind to move the water sort of like a hurricane over into the other bucket!" She says, a smile on her face, then falters, "That is, if any of you don't wanna do it,"

Erza smiles at Wendy, "That sounds like a brilliant idea! I don't know why I didn't think of it! Very well then, Wendy will be the one to compete in the first event!"

"C'mon we'd better get you to the starting place and let the announcer's know you'll be the one competing," Gray says, looking down at Wendy.

"I'll come with you, what about you two?" Erza asks, looking at me and Natsu questioningly.

"I think I'll stay here and wait for you guys to get back," I respond, still not quite over the gloom of remembering that I don't have Aquarius with me.

Natsu looks at me confused.

"And you Natsu?" Erza asks, expectantly.

"I'll wait here with Luce, I don't trust those guys on Raven Tail and Phantom Lord," He says, glaring at their headquarters.

Erza's eyes narrow into focus, "Good idea," She says, then walks away with Gray and Wendy.

Once they were gone Natsu turns to look at me.

"What's wrong Luce? Is this about earlier?" He asks, his eyes filled with concern.

My heart warms at his concern, honored that I'm one of the very few people who get to see this side of Natsu, "No," I reply, not fully ready to tell him about Aquarius.

Natsu looks at me, his eyes softening in understanding, "Talk about it tonight?" He asks.

"Tonight," I respond, surprised by his suggestion. We hadn't talked about that in months.

By "that" I mean the talks he and I shared on the nights after the war with Alvarez and Zeref. When Natsu first found out he was E.N.D. he was in complete denial. He didn't want to believe he could be someone rumored to be so evil and terrible. For the first couple nights, he would sleep at his house, but not without nightmares and flashbacks of what he thought were his childhood. It wasn't until the fourth night, however, that I woke up in the middle of the night to see him sitting on my bed in front of me, looking completely torn up. It was the first time I had seen him in four days.

 _I remember it so well..._

* * *

"Natsu?" I whispered softly, fear edging my voice, "Is that you?"

He looks up at me, and it was here that I noticed tears streaming down his face.

"Oh Natsu," I said, quickly sitting up in my bed to bring him into a gentle embrace, holding him close to me. Hoping to bring to him what he always brings to me: warmth and comfort.

"I can't do it Lucy," He finally says after moments of silence, his voice breaking, "I can't do it," His voice falls into a whisper, "All I see is my father and my mother running with me and Zeref, trying to find shelter but not making it fast enough. All I hear are my mother's screams and my father's shouts to get out, and run as far away as you can," He says, sobbing, "Then it moves and suddenly I'm awake, only something feels wrong. I don't feel human anymore, all I feel like...is a monster," He says, his voice going into a whisper, "As if a monster is all that's let of me...maybe I am a monster," He says, finally lifting his face up to look at me.

I'd never seen him this bad.

His face was blotchy and red, his hair was a mess, and his clothes were crumpled and torn up as if they had been burned. However, his eyes were what got me.

Usually filled with happiness and laughter, were now filled with sadness and something else that I couldn't quite place my finger on.

"What do I do Lucy?" He ask quietly, looking into my eyes as if they held all the answers, "What if I am a monster?"

That snapped me out of my daze.

I held to me even tighter, willing him to feel what happiness and joy he brings to my life, "Natsu, you are not a monster. A monster wouldn't protect his friends as if they were all he had to live for. A monster wouldn't give up his life so others could live. A monster wouldn't help a complete stranger just because he felt like it was the right thing to do," I say then gently lift his face with my hands so I can look into his eyes, "A monster wouldn't be loved by so many people, wouldn't be cherished by so many people, and wouldn't be missed if something were to ever happen to him."

He doesn't say anything after that, and he doesn't need to. His eyes say it all. They hold everything I need to know: Gratefulness, and maybe even a little bit of love.

We both fell asleep like that, me holding him in my arms as if my very life depended on it.

* * *

Everything changed after that, Natsu would come to my apartment during the night and we'd talk to each other. I'd tell him more about what happened during the year he was gone and he'd tell me more about what his nightmares were about, then he'd return back to his place before Happy could wake up. It was our little secret. One that I didn't intent to share anytime soon.

Natsu looks at me, mischief shining in his eyes, as if he knew what I was thinking, then he smiles brightly at me, which I respond with one just a bright if not more.

 _Yep, I definitely won't be sharing it anytime soon._

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Heyy My Lil' Donuts! Long time no see!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I promise we will get into some action in the next chapter, and I really do mean that! I just needed to get back in the swing of things! ;)**

 **Anyway, what do y'all think?**

 **Did you like the Nalu moment? What do you think of the first event? AND MOST IMPORTANTLY!**

 **Who were those characters in the beginning of the chapter?**

 **Let me know what y'all think in the comments below!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Ps: Shout to dam_snackbar (on a03) ,their comments are the reason as to why this fanfic is still going to be honest. Their comments never cease to put a smile on my face. You guys have no idea how much it means to know that people are reading my stories and actually care about them enough to comment or leave kudos! Those little factors are really important! They're what keep the story going! So thanks to all of you who take the time to read as well as leave comments on my fan fiction! Again, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!**

 **Rissa**


	19. Note

Hey My Lil Donuts!

Just wanted to say that all of the chapters have been updated (and slightly edited)

There's not much change in the plot but the aesthetics and there are some little (but big) changes.

For Example: The Oracion Seis are being referred to by their original names instead of their "show names" so to speak.

Another example: Instead of calling Raven Tail and Phantom Lord by their names I combined them and thought of the name "shadowalkers"

(If you want read how this happened, then go back to chapter eight | introductions and it will explain this scene)

Again, you guys don't have to read the updates, but you might a little confused on somethings if you don't

Anyway, thanks for reading!

The next chapter should either be up by tonight, tomorrow, or at the very latest (hopefully 0_0) Friday.

:)

Ressa

* * *

 **PS: I HIGHLY recommend reading this fanfic on either Wattpad (username: Ressa_Reviews) or on A03 (Username: Ressa4043)**

 **There are a lot of features that I am not able to use on (aesthetics wise) that I am enabled to use on A04 and Wattpad.**

 **It's more of smoother read (in my opinion)**


	20. 17 - Force To Be Reckoned With

**Chapter 17 – Forces To Be Reckoned With**

 ** _Juvia_**

Juvia watched as all the people gathered around the arena. The first challenge was about to start.

 _Juvia cannot mess this up. Juvia will not mess this up._

Juvia had been the one chosen to participate in the first challenge. She couldn't believe that first challenge was so….pedestrian. She had expected something much more challenging than simply moving from one spot to another.

 _Juvia wondered what 'bright mind' had come up with this little challenge. Maybe Juvia shouldn't say much though, the buckets were extremely large, meaning like the size of a house large._

Juvia wondered how the mages who weren't water mages would get through this challenge.

 _Surely it would take a while for them to complete it?_

Suddenly Juvia felt a cold rush overcome her as she turned to face one the Shadowalkers, Ameonna. Juvia had learned from Gray-sama that she was nothing but trouble.

As Juvia made eye contact with her she could understand why….but, for some reason those cold eyes of hers seemed familiar as well as her face….Juvia couldn't quite out her finger on it. It was rather unsettling.

"Ladies and Gentlemen please make your way to your seats as the Tide Walkers challenge is beginning now!" The announcer's voice came through the lacrimas speakers, making Juvia's attention easily focus on the priority: winning.

"Are you ready for this?" A voice came from next to her, which she turned to see Gray-sama looking at her, concern showing in dark, almost black, blue eyes.

"Yes," Juvia answered, her tone firm in contrast to her usually gentle tone, "Juvia is ready to this win this challenge for Fairy Tail Team B," She says, looking at Gray-sama, giving him a confident smile.

"What about you Gray-sama?" Juvia asks, "Has Fairy Tail Team A chosen a member to participate?" She asks curiously, wondering what guildmate she'll have to go against.

"Wendy," Gray said, a proud smile apparent on his face, then looked at Juvia, amusement sparking in his eyes, "You'll have quite a challenge with her," He says.

Juvia returns his smile, "Yes, Juvia will have quite a challenge with that little one," Juvia said, looking over at Wendy who was looking at the arena nervously.

"What does Gray-sama think about Ameonna?" Juvia asks, voicing her thoughts to Gray-sama.

Gray-sama just let out a deep sigh, "I'm not exactly sure with that on Juvia," He said, then paused to look at Juvia, "All I know is that she is danger and you need to be careful out there. She'll be the one you will go against," He said, gesturing towards Ameonna near the Shadowalkers.

"What?" Juvia let out a surprised gasp, "Juvia didn't know that the challenge would be one on one,"

"It wasn't supposed to be," Gray said, looking at the arena where Juvia would be within minutes, "But for some reason, the rules have changed," He said, looking at Juvia once again, "Two guilds will be eliminated from the Grand Magic Games today,"

"So, if Juvia loses, then there's a possibility that Fairy Tail Team B will be eliminated from the games?" Juvia said, her voice coming out shaky.

 _Juvia doesn't think she'll be able to operate properly with that knowledge._

Gray-sama apparently noticed this.

"Shoot," Gray-sama said, running his fingers through his hair, "Juvia I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I should've known that would stress you out. I wasn't thinking," He said, looking up at me his eyes filled with remorse.

Juvia smiled as his reaction to her feelings, "Gray-sama, it's ok. Juvia knows you would never do something like that intentionally," She said, a soft smile on her face.

"Will the first two competitors from Guild's Mermaid Heel and Sabertooth please come to the arena," The announcers voice once again came from the Lacrimas.

"C'mon," Gray-sama said looking at me with a smile on his face, "We don't wanna miss Minerva kicking whoever's butt," Gray said, mischief shining in his eyes.

"Who's to say that Minerva will be the winner, Gray-sama?" Juvia, a spark of mischief shining in her eyes as well.

Gray rolls his eyes playfully, "C'mon Juvia, it's not like anyone could win against Minerva in a challenge like this. With her magic, she'll be able to complete this challenge within a minute,"

Juvia nodded in agreement. Minerva-san's magic was truly something. Her Territory magic allowed her to manipulate space as well as the properties of space. Juvia almost pitied the person going against her. Minerva-san was truly indeed a force to be reckoned with.

 ** _Sting_**

"M'lady," I said, looking at Minerva, "I know you like winning, but please just show a little sympathy when you go out there," I all but begged.

Minerva just looked at me, a smirk apparent on her face, "I'm not making any promise I can't keep young master," Then she walked away into the arena to join her competitor.

"This otta be fun," Olga said, looking at m'lady as she sauntered out into the arena like she owned the place.

I just scowled in response.

"Sting?" A soft voice from my left came and I turned to see Yukino, beautiful as ever in her Sabertooth uniform, "Is there something you are worried about?" She said, her brown eyes shimmering with concern.

"No," I said, despite the stressful sigh I exhaled.

Yukino put her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed, "That doesn't sound very convincing,"

Although I still felt stressed out I couldn't help the smile that began to show on my face.

 _She's so adorable when she's angry._

"What are you smiling about?" Yukino asked, her eyes filled with suspicion.

I felt the word 'you' slipping from my mouth but I quickly caught myself and returned to my previous position.

"Nothing, I was just remembering something," I said smoothly, hoping that she didn't ask anything.

Luckily, she didn't…..but that didn't mean didn't pursue an answer for her previous question.

"What's got you so worked up then?" Yukino said, referring to her previous question.

Once again, I let a deep sigh, "I'm just worried about Minerva," I admitted.

"Why?" Yukino asked confused, "It's not like she's going to anything like she did at the last Grand Magic Games and you know this," Yukino said, almost as if she were defending Minerva.

"I know, that's not what I meant," I muttered, then smirked, "I'm just worried how much she's gonna rub it in the other teams face when she kicks their butts at this challenge," I said, a cocky grin forming on my face.

Yukino just shook her head as she began to smile and sweet, little giggles escaped her mouth, "Oh Sting, you're quite confident of m'lady aren't you?" She asked, her eyes showing amusement.

"Why of course," I said smiling, "She is m'lady after all, nothing can deter her," I said smiling.

Yukino just nodded in agreement as we watched our guildmate take her place between the two very large buckets, one of which contained water. Just from across m'lady was her competition: Kagura Mikazuchi.

 ** _Kagura_**

I looked at Minerva across the arena from me, who simply returned the action with a smile.

 _It's hard to believe that this is the same woman who once stabbed me with a sword._

I heard someone shout my name and I turn to see Erza giving me an encouraging smile. I don't return it but simply acknowledge her with a nod.

 _I need to focus on the task at hand: defeating Minerva._

We were originally going to let Risley handle this one, considering we both used Gravity Change Magic, but once I heard that Minerva would be the competitor I had to step in.

 _I need to prove myself._

Last Grand Magic Games, Minerva had defeated me, that won't be happening this time.

"One more thing before this challenge starts," The announcer's voice came through the lacrimas surrounding the arena as the thirty second countdown began, "Throughout this challenge you are allowed to attack your opponent, good luck ladies!" The announcer said, then continued to talk. About what? I'm not exactly sure, probably introducing his guests' or something like that.

It didn't matter to me, though, I was focused on one thing and one thing only: winning, and now that the announcer said we could attack each other this task just got more difficult.

I knew I was in for quite a challenge when I looked at Minerva to see her looking at me, a Cheshire grin on her face as well as challenge sparking in her green eyes.

 _This was going to be fun._

 ** _Erza_**

I watched as the two women had a stare down, just ten seconds away from attacking each other. To say the least, I was quite jealous of both Kagura and Minerva. They were both very worthy and formidable opponents. Ones that I did not mind battling against, especially when it was competition.

 _I wonder who will win. Obviously Minerva has the advantage with her Spatial Magic but Kagura also has quite an ability with her Gravity Magic to simply use gravity as a force to transfer the water between the two buckets._

"Five, four, three, two, ONE!" The crowd roared as the two women immediately charged for each other.

They had at least thirty minutes to get the water from one bucket to the other, the one with the most water won: it was rather simple. However, the announcer hadn't told us that we would be fighting each other at the same time.

Kagura had immediately pulled out her sheathed sword as she went for Minerva, trying to get in a blow, but Minerva had seen this coming.

 _Kagura shouldn't have been so predictable. Then again, she and Minerva had fought on more than one occasion._

Minerva quickly teleported herself behind Kagura, landing a kick in her back causing Kagura to stumble, but not fall.

Kagura quickly recovered but Minerva had already teleported herself back to her two large buckets.

 _That was clever._

Minerva had gone to her enemy instead of making her enemy come to her. She had roughened up Kagura, not for long, but long enough for her to get a head start on transferring the water.

I watched as Kagura realized this two. It was quite obvious when her eyes filled with rage.

I let out a small laugh, this battle was just beginning.

Kagura looked at her buckets then Minerva. She would have to make a choice. Try to slow Minerva's progress, or try to catch up.

Kagura didn't waste a second when she charged for Minerva.

Minerva had her back turned to Kagura.

 _Not a smart move._

Kagura immediately attacked Minerva from her back. To say the least, she was going out all out.

Kagura had activated her Gravity Magic, pushing Minerva to the ground who was gritting her teeth.

Then Kagura did the unthinkable: she used her Gravity Magic to tip Minerva's bucket over, all the water spilling out like a flood.

Luckily, there were mages, such as Freed and Rufus, who had created runes to create a sort of dome around the two competitors and their buckets.

I heard a vicious growl come from Minerva as she teleported herself from the grip of Kagura's Gravity Magic.

Then Minerva did the unthinkable: she teleported to Kagura's full bucket of water which hadn't been emptied an inch and tipped it. However, Kagura had used her Gravity Magic to keep the bucket from tipping over completely, as well as taking her focus off of everything else.

 _Goodness gracious! This was going to last forever!_

Minerva, taking advantage of Kagura's vulnerability immediately teleported in front of Kagura, once again landing a blow on Kagura. Only this time, she made sure to land more than one. Minerva landed blow after blow, however it was not done in a vicious way as she had when she fought Lucy. Instead, it was done in more of a way that were guarantee her victory.

Kagura blocked Minerva's blows weakly, but managed to block them nonetheless.

Twenty minutes had passed now with ten more left.

 _They have to rush back to their buckets and fill them with water or no one's going to win this!_

Suddenly, once Minerva was convinced that Kagura was shaken up enough. She rushed back to Kagura's bucket, tipping out as much water as she could before Kagura got back up and used her Gravity Magic once again to stabilize the bucket.

Minerva, then, teleported back to her bucket and started to fill it with water as quick as she could.

Although Kagura could've just turned around to her bucket and fill it with water. I knew that there was no way she would just take a beating like that without retaliation.

To say the least, I was right.

Kagura immediately charged for Minerva, her speed lightning fast, and delivered blow after blow to a shocked Minerva.

Minerva recovered quickly, though, and started blocking all of Kagura's advances with such grace that it was unbelievable.

 _Did anything deter these to women?_

Although, Minerva had recovered. Kagura's persistence to win had grown immensely.

Kagura once again pulled out her sheathed sword and began deliver harsh, precise blows to Minerva's stomach. Using every advantage skill she had, Kagura slowly began to take down Minerva. Not many seconds later, Minerva had fallen to her feet much to my surprise, making Kagura turn around and return to her bucket leaving a motionless Minerva laying on the dirt in the arena.

 _Surely Minerva wasn't beaten that easily?_

 ** _Minerva_**

Fool. I can't believe she bought it.

Don't get me wrong, Kagura Mikazuchi truly is a force to be reckoned with: but so am I.

There's no way I'm losing this battle.

 ** _Sting_**

I watched with concern as m'lady fell to the ground, motionless.

Kagura couldn't have beaten her up that badly, could she?

 _No! That's impossible! M'lady has only grown stronger over the years, there was no way she could be beaten by Kagura's simple attacks. Not even a chance._

"Those two are putting up quite a fight aren't they?" A voice came from behind me and Yukino. I turned around to see….Yukino?

 _It can't be._

I looked at the real Yukino to my left, and realized that there was no way that the woman standing beside me was the real Yukino but then….who was she?

The woman must've realized my confusion, "My apologize, Master Sting, you probably don't know me. My name is Sorano Agria, Yukino's older sister." She said, a smirk evident on her face.

I had only one thought when I looked at this woman in shock.

 _"Who?"_ I asked in utter shock as I turned to look at Yukino.

Yukino just looked at me flushed, "Sting, meet my sister Sorano," She said, giving me a sheepish smile.

"You have a sister?!" I ask in shock and then turned to look at Sorano, "Not to mention that your sister is part of the Oracion Seis?!"

"Um, yes?" Yukino said.

Before I could say anything I heard the crowd scream loudly.

 _The battle! How could I forget about it?_

I turned around to see Minerva up on her feet again, with only two minutes left on the clock. Kagura's bucket that was filled with water was almost empty and her other bucket was almost halfway filled, and Minerva's had nothing.

 _How was she going to pull this off?_

 ** _Minerva_**

As soon as I stood back up on my feet. I swirled around to my bucket and raised my hands.

 _Let's have a little fun shall we?_

 ** _Sting_**

I watched as Minerva's form began to change drastically.

Olga let out a loud laugh as he realized, like myself, what was happening, "She's gonna use her part demon form?! Kagura's sure gonna have a lot of fun with that!" He said, still laughing.

 _Oh Minerva please don't her Kagura too bad._

To be honest, I didn't mind Kagura. I'd considered her a friend ever since we fought side by side at the Alvarez battle, when they defeated Larcade.

 _I still want to win, but I don't want Kagura to want to kill me when this battle is over. Goodness knows she could do it. She was consider to be Erza's 'little sister' after all._

Minerva didn't seem to care about this as usual, though, as she quickly changed into her Neo form. Although Porlyusica had healed Minerva, she wasn't able to fully cure her, leaving Minerva part demon.

Minerva hadn't mind this little feat too much to say the least.

Minerva, now standing, her eyes a shade darker. She quickly fills her bucket up with water, much to the crowd's surprise.

 _Nothing stops M'lady._

I thought with a smirk on my face.

Forty-five seconds were left on the clock when Minerva teleported to an unsuspecting Kagura and landed, once again, blow after blow, but this time they were even harder considering her change in magic.

Minerva then quickly teleported to Kagura's bucket to tip it over, but without luck as Kagura once again used her Gravity Magic to stop her and then attacked Minerva herself.

"Ten! Nine!" The crowd roared as the ten second countdown began.

 _Hurry up Minerva!_

Kagura attacked Minerva swiftly and gracefully, not even a trace of her initial shock.

 _These women were undoubtedly forces to be reckoned with._

"Eight! Seven! Six!" The crowd continued to shout as the two women continued to battle, the buckets of water long forgotten.

 _They're matching blow for blow._

"Five! Four! Three! Two! ONE!" The crowd screamed, as the ladies immediately ceased their fighting, both landing feet away from each both grasping for breath.

 _Who won?!_

"Ladies and Gentlemen," The announcer's voice came from the lacrimas, "After a quick deliberation the winner is!"

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey My Lil Donuts!**

 **I'M SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING ON FRIDAY LIKE I SAID I WOULD!**

 **But despite that...**

 **Did you enjoy this chapter?**

 **I tried my best to describe the battle (but as you can see, that's not really my strong suit)**

 **Um...about that**

 **Sorry not sorry for the cliffhanger (^u^)**

 **I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can so that y'all don't have to suffer to much ;)**

 **Anyway, post your thoughts in the comments down below!**

 **Who do you think won?!**

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Rissa**


	21. 18 - Stupid Slayers

**18 | Stupid Slayers**

 ***Unedited***

* * *

 ** _Kagura_**

"Ladies and Gentlemen," The announcer's voice came from the lacrimas, "After a quick deliberation the winner is Minerva Orlando!"

 _What?...She won?_

I looked over at Minerva as her teammates ran over to her, smiles bright on their faces. They weren't the only ones, though, Minerva herself was smiling brightly.

 _I lost...Again! I lost to Minerva Orlando!_

I tried not to let the ugly feeling of failure build on in my heart...but I couldn't help it...It's who I am.

 _And I'm still not good enough to beat Minerva._

"Kagura!" I hear someone shout my name and turn to see Minerva herself.

"Minerva," I said, my tone even, nodding my head to her.

"You put up quite a fight today, it was an honor fighting you again," She said, holding out her hand for me to shake.

"Thank you," I said, my tone the same as I took her hand, "To you as well," I said, solemnly.

I saw Minerva's smile falter for a second as she looked at me, but it was back just as quick as it was gone.

"Minerva!" Sting shouted from Sabertooth's box, "C'mon, the next round is starting soon!"

Minerva turns her head back to me, "Again, it was an honor to fight you Kagura, you prove to be quite a challenge for me," She said before turning around and walking away.

"Minerva!" I shouted before she was completely out of hearing distance.

"Yes?" She asks, her long side braid swinging as she turns around to look at me.

"How'd you do that?" I ask, referring to when her eyes had changed to a darker color.

"Oh," Minerva said, rubbing the back of her neck nervously, "Well...long story short I changed myself into a demon and Porluysica wasn't able to completely heal me back to normal and remnants of it were still left behind...not much, though, hence why my eyes are the only thing that change. All it does is give me a bit of extra speed and strength," She says, before once again turning around and walking to her guildmates.

 _So she turned herself into a demon?_

"You put up quite a fight today," A voice says from behind me, which I immediately recognize as Erza, "To say the least, your skills as a swordswoman have improved,"

"Yah but they still weren't enough to beat Minerva," I said disappointed.

I hear Erza let out a sigh, "You're still on that? Kagura, that was at least 2 years ago!"

"It doesn't matter," I answered harshly, "That should be even more reason why I should be able to beat her, or at the very least tie with her,"

Erza let out another sigh, "Kagura you were close to tying with her!"

"Close isn't close enough," I muttered.

Suddenly I hear footsteps coming towards us. After not hearing anyone respond, I realize they're probably talking to Erza.

As if on cue, I hear Erza mumble an ok to said person and then I hear more footsteps, only they're heading in the direction opposite from me.

"Kagura," I hear Risley's voice, "The judges are asking everyone to clear the arena so they can get setup for the next round,"

"Ok," I respond and then walk over to Risley, and then we walk back to our box next to the arena.

"Oh Kagura," I hear Risley whisper under her breath.

 _I know Risley, I know._

I raise my head up high, straighten my back...

 _Time to act like the woman Reina raised you to be Kagura. Head held high and filled with pride._

* * *

 ** _Erza_**

"Erza," I hear Jellal say as I enter the arena's infirmary.

"Jellal," I say, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing yet," He says somewhat bitterly, "What'd you find out about the Shadowalkers?" He asks.

I feel my insides slowly being to fill with rage at the thought of them.

"They're strong," I admitted reluctantly, "I don't even know where they found mages like that,"

I hear Jellal mutter something sharp under his breath, then he looks up at me, "How strong?"

"Stronger than Natsu," I say solemnly.

"What?" Jellal says, his eyes hinting disbelief, "How many did it take to beat him?"

"One," I say, gritting my teeth together.

"How many did it take for the rest of you?" Jellal asks, almost nervously.

"Well considering that we weren't really trying to cause a fight, two," I said, my teeth still clenched, "They caught us off guard," I say, feeling water gather in my eyes as I look up at Jellal, "They were choking him Jellal," I whisper, "They were drowning Natsu on land...it's one thing to watch someone get tortured knowing there's absolutely nothing you can do because you're chained up...it's another to watch someone drown knowing that there's absolutely nothing you can do because you're not strong enough even though you're perfectly capable to help them," I say, trying to form words of how I feel.

"Erza, please tell you aren't blaming yourself for what happened to Natsu, weren't you just giving Kagura a pep talk about this?" Jellal asks, his eyes sad.

He always said he hated it when I cried.

"What can I say?" I chuckle, humorlessly, "I guess I can't take my own advice,"

I feel Jellal gather me into his arms, just holding me as I cried.

 _I hate crying in front of people. I'm always afraid that they'll think it makes me weak. Not to mention, who wants to see the Great Queen Titania cry? I have to remain strong for everyone else...but Jellal is the one person who I don't have to remain quite so strong...I don't have to be Queen Titania, or the powerful Lady Erza...I don't have to be Erza from Fairy Tail...I just have to be Erza...Erza Scarlet..._

* * *

 ** _Unknown_**

"Did Ali-san really have to do that?" A girl with a long, blue ponytail said, looking down at the knocked out guards stationed at the entrance of the arena.

"Yes I did," Ali replied, her long, black, spiky hair held back by a bandana.

"So according to the plan, I am going to participate in the competition as a rival contestant against who?" The girl with blue hair asked.

At that Ali smirked, "Who else?" She said, "Juvia Lockser and Ameonna,"

"What?!" The girl with, "No one ever said I'd be fighting them!" She exclaimed.

Ali rolled her eyes, "Well now you know,"

"Stupid slayers not telling me anything," The girl muttered under her breath.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 **Hey My Lil Donuts!**

 **Shout out To: Amliha! She got it spot on with Minerva!**

 **So what do ya think?**

 **Sorry for being gone so long! I've been working on a lot of things lately!**

 **Can anyone guess who the unknown's POV is yet?**

 **If not then I must be doing something right!**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Buh-Bye My Lil Donuts!**

 **Rissa**


	22. 19 - Are You Ready?

**Enjoy!**

 **19 | Are You Ready?**

* * *

 _ **Gajeel**_

"Hey," I said, my voice coming out gruff, "Your next,"

Juvia just looked at me, "I knows" She replied simply.

 _Well this is great...she's speaking in first person...that means she's serious._

"So are you ready?" I ask, for some reason nervously.

"Why would Juvia be?" She replied, her eyes filled with confusion.

"You do know who you're going against right?" I asked.

"Ameonna," Juvia replied, her eyes turning cold, "One of the Shadowalkers,"

I felt my eyes narrow, "That's right," I responded, "Apparently she's the new 'rain woman', at least that's what everyone's calling her,"

"And what is Fairy Tail calling her?" Juvia asked, her eyes baring into mine.

I smirked, "Gihi, you should know this one Juvia," I said looking at her, "She's the person who you're gonna destroy,"

With that I finally got her to smile.

"Juvia is pretty good with water isn't she?" She asked cheekily.

I ruffled her hair in response, "The best,"

Then, much to my surprise, she wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Thank you Gajeel-san." She said warmly.

Before I could even wrap my arms around her let alone respond, she was running in the direction towards Gray.

 _Anytime sis._

* * *

 _ **Unknown**_

I watched the arena from afar with anticipation I had not known could even be possible for me.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around to find my younger sister looking at me, concern shining in her black eyes, her dark, purple hair looking radiating in the sun.

 _She really does look just like her._

"Are you ready?" She asks, her voice coming out soft and sweet.

I nod my head in response, "Yes, I'm just not sure how I'm going to win," I paused, "I never was able to beat either of them in training,"

My sister just shakes her head, "Remember, we're not here to win...we're just here to get back home. The only one you have to beat is Ameonna,"

"Can you explain to me again why that is?" I ask her.

"I'm not sure I quite understand myself," She responds honestly, "I don't even know how we got here to begin with," She says, her eyes filled with sadness when she looks at me.

Then I notice her eyes start to fill with tears.

 _Oh no._

"Don't you dare cry," I look at her threateningly causing her to laugh.

She quickly wipes her eyes, "I won't," She says looking at me mischievously, "At least not yet," She says, then runs back in the direction of the rest of our group.

 _I'm glad that I'm not here alone._

"Hey!," I hear one of my friends shout from the group, her blonde hair shining in the sun, "We have to get you there fast or we won't make it in time,"

I nod my head and quickly run to her, "So what's the plan?" I ask once I'm standing next to her.

"You mean what are we going to tell the announcers?" She asks me.

I nod in response.

"Good question," She says, looking at me.

"Are you serious?!" I ask her in shock, "Do you really think they're just going to let us participate?"

"Why wouldn't they?" My friends asks, her eyebrows knitted in confusion, "They let Raven Tail and Phantom Lord participate so why not us? It's not like we tried to terminate Fairy Tail and wreck a town, or that we broke the rules in the Grand Magic Games as well as tried to terminate Fairy Tail. We just showed up," She says, looking at me.

"We just 'showed up'?" I say, using my hands as air quotations, "You and I both know that's not true. We were messing with magic that shouldn't been messed with and now look where that's gotten us," I say, gesturing to the area around us.

"Yah," My friend responds, "It's gotten us into one huge mess," She says, then looks at me and smirks, "Our parents are totally gonna kill us aren't they?"

I let out a bitter laugh, "Not if the people do it here first,"

My friend suddenly stops in her tracks and looks at me with a sad smile, "We messed up a bit too much this time didn't we?"

I look at her as her long floor-length coat hanging of her shoulders blows in the wind, "Yes, we did,"

My friend suddenly shakes her head.

"Well it's too late to go back now," She says then starts walking again, "So you know what you have to do right?"

I nod my head, "Beat Ameonna to make sure we stay in the games, but at the same time provide minimal protection to Juvia,"

"That's right," My friend says and once more turns her head towards mine, "This is quite a challenge we've set up for ourselves isn't it?"

"That it is," I respond, "I can't wait to see everyone's reactions though," I say, smiling at the thought.

"That might just make this whole mess worth it," My friend agrees, a small smile gracing her face as well.

 _She's not one to smile is she?...She's just like her father._

"Oi!" Someone suddenly shouts, startling us, "Are you two going to keep reminiscing or you going to come?"

We both turn to see Ali looking at us irritated, "We're going to have run at this point to get there on time,"

My friend just looks at Ali, a smirk creeping on her face, "What? You afraid you can't keep up Ali," She mocks.

A smirk, one much like my friends, shows on Ali's face, "Oh I've been waitin all day to hear those words Lexi. Bring it,"

"You're on," She responds, and then they're off.

 _Stupid Slayers!_

I quickly start to run after them.

 _You would think they would take the one who's participating with them._

 _Hopefully the others are already there._

* * *

 ** _Juvia_**

I watched as all the people quickly made their way back to their seats.

 _There's so many...I mustn't fail in front of them; not with Gray-sama watching!_

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Gray-sama.

"The announcers just postponed the round for another 5 minutes, apparently something popped up," Gray-sama said, then paused.

"Gray?" I ask, my voice urging him to continue.

 _I wonder what's wrong._

"Apparently there's going to be a third contender in your round," Gray-sama says, looking at me, concern glinting in his eyes.

 _I understand his concern, even though I told him I was fine, I'm really not. The only one who I voiced these thoughts to were Gray._

"Who is it?" I asked, my voice coming out worried.

"That's why the announcers are postponing the round, " Gray says, his eyes zoning in on mine, "They want you and Ameonna to meet her,"

"The person is a her?" I ask.

Gray nods in response, "And based off what I've been told, she's pretty strong." He says, then turns to me, "But you're strong...than both of them," He says looking at me.

"You think Juvia is strong?" I ask, my words coming out in third person out of habit.

Gray looks at me and smiles, "I wouldn't do this if I did," He says, then he leans in.

And then I feel a soft presence on my cheek.

 _Did he just kiss my cheek?!_

Immediately I feel my cheeks turn red.

"G-Gray-sama?" I ask, seeing as I still feel his warm breath fanning my face.

"Don't freak out too much about this, ok?" He says, smirking at me as he pulls away.

 _He knows the affect he has on me and he's using it unfairly!_

"Let's go meet this girl shall we?" He asks, holding his hand out for me.

"You're coming with Juvia?" I ask, still in a daze from the kiss.

"You know I wouldn't leave you alone unless I had to," Gray says, his eyes serious and tinted with...sadness?

 _He's not just talking about now._

I let out as sigh and take his hand holding it close, "I know," I respond softly, looking into his eyes.

I hear him whisper something under his breath but, not being a dragon slayer, I couldn't hear him.

 _I_ _wonder what he said..._

* * *

 ** _Ameonna_**

"Are you ready? "Rakurai asks, holding my arm in his.

"You know I am," I respond, my voice level.

"Even though you know they're here?" Rakurai asks, curiously.

"They never scared me before so why should they now?" I ask him, slightly irritated.

"Oh sweet Ameonna," Rakurai responds, shaking his head while smiling, "I never meant scared, I meant what you feel inside...they were your guildmates," He says looking at me.

I stop in my path and look at him, eyes blazing, "They meant nothing to me and you know it,"

Rakurai lets out a chuckle, "Just making sure you're not having second thoughts," He says, the looks at me seriously as we begin walking again, "You remember what you're supposed to do?"

"Take out Juvia as discreetly as I can," I say, repeating the words that I have been told for the past week.

Rakurai nods, "Exactly, and this is the perfect place to start," He says, "Your job is to take out Juvia throughout the Grand Magic Games, not in one blow...you don't want to get us disqualified or the whole plan will go to ashes,"

I smile a little at the double meaning, "Don't worry, Juvia Lockser will be gone before this whole thing is over," I say, "And _Sylvia_ will be fast behind her," I say, spitting out her name.

 _You won't get away this time Sylvia, I'll make you regret ever being born. Then I'll go for that stupid sister of yours afterwards._

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey My Lil Donuts!**

 **I'm so sorry for not updating!**

 **Who's enjoying the new anime season so far!?**

 **I LOVE it so much! It's so good!**

 **Anyone reading the 100 year quest?**

 **Anyway!**

 **Thoughts on this chapter?**

 **Am I only the one who's fangirling about Gruvia as well as Juvia evolving into first person or am I just weird?**

 **I wanted the kiss between Juvia and Gray to be simple and quick but I wanted it to be memorable.**

 **What did y'all think?**

 **Any guesses are who are unknown characters are?**

 **I've been trying to drop a lot of hints!**

 **Any thoughts on Ameonna and her story?**

 **Leave your thoughts in the comments!**

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Buh-Bye My Lil Donuts!**

 **-Rissa**


	23. 20 - The Meeting

**Enjoy!**

* * *

 **20 | The Meeting**

 _ **Juvia**_

Gray and I made our way towards the room where I would meet the others.

At first we were worried that I wouldn't be allowed to bring Gray with me, but apparently each contestant gets to bring one person with them.

 _And obviously Juvia chose Gray-sama!_

I looked over at Gray who had his eyes trained solely on the path in front of us.

 _He's worried._

"Gray-sama?" I ask softly.

"Yeah?" He responds, not even bothering to look at me, tugging me along, his hand in mine.

 _His hands are cold, more so than normal, and his eyes keep flitting around._

"Gray-sama what's wrong?" I ask, my voice filled with slight concern.

"Nothing," He responds curtly.

 _He's shutting me out._

I feel my shoulders deflate, and my spirit fall down slightly.

"Juvia knows something is wrong," I say firmly, going between first and third person.

Gray lets out a long sigh, running his fingers through his hair, "I'm just scared Juvia," He finally says, finally turning to look at me.

"I know Gray," I say, looking at his dark eyes that are filled with concern.

 _He's worried for me._

I feel my chest fill with warmth and the love I have for him builds even more.

Suddenly, Gray lets out a soft chuckle, "I'm still getting used to hear you talk in first person,"

"You are?" I ask, curiously.

 _I hadn't realized he'd even notice._

Gray looks at me, a mischievous smirk on his face, "I'm not gonna lie, you talking in third person was pretty cute,"

I feel my face heat up, "G-G-gray-sama thought Juvia was cute?" I squeak out.

Gray lets out a loud laugh and plants a quick kiss on my forehead, causing me to blush even more.

"Of course, not you aren't cute now," He said, winking at me.

 _Gray-sama's awfully forward today_.

"Gray-sama's awfully flirty today," I say, voicing my thoughts.

"Well maybe I woke up a little different this morning," He says, intertwining his hand with mine, and not even giving me a chance to respond, as we move our way towards the room.

 _Only a couple more feet._

Suddenly, the door opens to reveal a man whose face immediately brightens up at seeing us.

He starts clapping and jumping up and down, "Oh goody you're finally here!"

I look at Gray, who looks at me with one of his eyebrows raised.

I give him a shrug to say 'I don't know'

 _Who would put a man like this in charge of a meeting like this especially with people like the Shadowalkers._

Nonetheless, Gray and I make our way into the room only to find two other people in the room.

They're not the Shadowalkers so they must be the other team.

"Hello," I say, my voice coming out gentle, "My name's Juvia and this is Gray," I say, immediately wanting to figure out what kind of people these are, "And you must be the other contestant?" I ask.

 _It's hard to tell what they are like with their long, black cloaks on but from what I can tell, they're female...unless that is one very short man._

"Yes," A voice responds, equally as soft as mine.

"Great!" Juvia responds cheerfully.

 _Surely she isn't too bad._

"May Juvia ask what your name is?" I ask, wanting to find out more about the mysterious figures.

"My name is-," She starts to respond before the figure, who's a little bit taller, bumps in.

"Not important," The figure says with a gruff but very much feminine voice, "All you need to know is that she's your contestant,"

 _Ok then._

"Hey," Gray steps in, his face contorted in slight anger, "Back off, she was just asking a question,"

"Whatever," The girl immediately responds, crossing her arms and leaning back into the dark corner of the room, almost as if she were blending in with shadows.

"I'm sorry for my companion's behavior," The shorter girl says, bowing in apology, "She's not very talkative," She says, her face still covered by the cloak.

"It's alright," Juvia says, offering her a smile.

Before the girl can even open her mouth to respond, the door slams open to reveal the woman who's called 'Ameonna' and if memory serves right, the man next to her is named 'Rakurai'.

"Oh," Ameonna said once her eyes flitted over to the girls in the black cloaks, "Look who decided to show up, Rakurai," She said, her eyes flitted in amusement.

 _Ameonna knows them?!_

My eyes meet with Gray's whose eyes are filled with the exact same shock as well as curiosity.

 _So I'm not the only one._

"Of course we're here," The taller of the two girls says, "Couldn't miss out on all the fun could we?"

"I guess not," Ameonna says, "But how can we have any fun with those cloaks of yours covering you,"

"Well that sounds like your problem," The girl responds bitterly, causing Ameonna's face to turn sour.

"Well played Ali," Ameonna says, and before you know the girl has her pinned against the wall, her black cloak falling back revealing her face.

I could only see the back of the girl, and I definitely couldn't see the front of her face because there was so much black, unruly hair that covered her head.

"You lost the right to even call me that when you betrayed us," The girl snarls viciously at Ameonna.

 _If Juvia was Ameonna, she'd be terrified right now._

However Ameonna wasn't, in fact, she was smirking.

"Now there's the Ali we all know and love," Ameonna says, "Why don't you just throw me across the room like we all know you want to," She says, her eyes filled with challenge.

"Ali don't," The other girl says, "She's just trying to trick you,"

"Sylvia," Ameonna spits, a sick smile on her face, "You've finally gained a face...and half a brain,"

"SHUT UP!" The girl who has her pinned says, slamming Ameonna against the wall as well as dropping her on the floor afterwards, "You don't know a damn thing Ameonna!"

Suddenly Rakurai intervenes between the two, "Save it for the battle dragon," He says, before helping Ameonna up, who has a dark smile on her face, barely a scratch.

"Better put your cloak back up," Ameonna says, "Wouldn't want anyone to find out who you really are..." Ameonna says, before taking a step towards Ali, whose face I still couldn't see, and whispers into her ear, "Murderer,"

Not skipping a beat, Ali retaliates, but before she can even make a swing, the other girl, Sylvia is in front of her, "Ali, I know it's hard but you need to forget everything she just told, you know none of it's true. Put your cloak back on, and let's go, we've met the other contestants and that's all we needed to do,"

I hear Ali's harsh breaths coming from her.

 _She's strong. Juvia can feel the magic radiating from her._

Without even a second passing by, Ali's hood is back up and she's out the door, Sylvia not far behind her, leaving the Shadowalkers smirking as well as Gray and her in complete shock.

Right after they leave, the man from before comes back in cheerful as ever, completely oblivious to what just happen, "Oh, where did the other two with black cloaks go?" He asks, his face filled with confusion,"

Surprisingly, it was Ameonna who answered, "They did all that they needed to, and decided that they wanted a little more training before the match,"

"Oh goody!" The man says, once again clapping his hands, "The better they are for the battle!" He says, as if training meant that their magic would somehow be increased after a couple minutes of training.

"We'll be taking our leave as well," Rakurai says, then walks out the door, Ameonna following close behind.

"See you in the battle Juvia," Ameonna says, faking a smile.

 _If Juvia didn't know any better, she would have been just as kind to Ameonna...she's a good faker._

"Well then," The man says, "I'll just let you two be on your way then, can't wait to see your performance Miss Lockser," Then exits the room just like the others.

Gray and I were silent as we walked back to the others.

"What am I going to do?" I ask Gray right before we take the final steps to the others.

Without warning Gray engulfs me in a tight hug, resting his chin on my head, "You listen to me Juvia, you'll be just fine against them, you will come on top," He says, his voice filled with concern.

To say the least, I understood his concern, because for the first time in a long time.

 _I was terrified. The Shadowalkers were playing just to win the Grand Magic Games. After seeing what happened in that room, they were after much more than that..._

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey My Lil Donuts!**

 **So I know this isn't great, but I just need a couple chapters to get back into the crazy universe that is Fairy Tail!**

 **Anyway, what'd y'all think of this chapter?!**

 **Post your thoughts the comments below!**

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Buh-bye my Lil Donuts!**

 **Rissa**


	24. 21 - This Is It

**Enjoy!**

 **21 | This Is It**

* * *

 ** _Lucy_**

Natsu and I had been talking, well mostly Natsu had been complaining about how he should've been the one to go with Gray and Juvia so 'he could really stick it to them', before Juvia and Gray came back into the room.

But what I saw wasn't good.

 _Juvia's been crying, and Gray looks like he's seen a ghost._

"What happened to you two?" Natsu asks, bluntly, although you can see the anger that's beginning to brew.

His thoughts are just like mine, it's the only thing that's been making Juvia cry lately. Shadowalkers.

"Take a big guess," Gray said dryly, "We met the other opponent,"

"And?" Gajeel asks, coming out of nowhere.

"Where did you come from?!" I ask, startled.

"Gihi," Gajeel says, smirking, "I have my way, bunny girl,"

"Whatever," I muttered instead of replying with a smart retort.

 _Right now Juvia needs us to listen and be there for her, not argue like idiots like some people._

Without realizing it I had begun to glare at Natsu and Gray, who both looked at me confused.

Natsu and Gray look at each and then back at me.

"What did we do?!" They both asked, simultaneously.

"Nothing," I responded reluctantly, crossing my arms as well as my leg.

I hear both Gray and Natsu let out loud sighs.

 _Guess their letting this one go._

"Anyway," I say, "What happened over there?" I ask, concern filling my voice as I direct the question at Juvia.

"To be honest," Juvia says, "Not much," She shrugs.

"Your face says differently," Gajeel says, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"She's being honest," Gray says, "We showed up, met two girls in black cloaks, moments later the Shadowalkers showed up and ticked off one of the girls, next thing ya know, the girl had the Shadowalker pinned up against the wall, and then was gone,"

"Are you serious?" I ask, shock filling my voice.

"A fight happened and I wasn't there?!" Natsu shouted, "Ahh, I've had a fire in my belly all morning that's just waiting to get out!" He says, pounding his fist together.

"Oi!" Gajeel says, smacking him on the back of the head, "This isn't about you Salamander!"

"Hey! You got something to say iron face?!" Natsu says, squaring him up.

 _Not again._

Gajeel begins to raise his fist, but, like usual, before he can do anything a presence immediately makes its entrance.

"Cut it out you two, we have more pressing matters than you two arguing like complete fools," Erza says, a shadow over her face with her signature death glare.

 _Does she have some kind of alarm that tells her when and where there's going to be a fight or something?!_

"Aw c'mon Erza," Natsu whines, "What's more important than having a good brawl?" He says.

 _He says it as if he actually believes that there's nothing more important than fighting...somebody help us._

* * *

 ** _Gray_**

I watched as that idiot pyro argued with Erza.

 _He's digging his own grave._

"The more pressing matter," Erza states, almost angrily, "Is that Juvia has less than five minutes before she's called,"

"Five minutes?!" Juvia shouts, panicked, "Juvia's not ready!" She says, looking around franticly before her eyes land on me, almost as if she were pleading me to say that it's not true.

"You'll be fine Juvia," I say gently.

"For once, he's right," Gajeel says.

"Hey!" I retaliate, but he acts as if he hadn't heard me.

"You'll be fine Juv, everyone here knows that you're the greatest water mage Fiore has," Gajeel says, finishing his earlier statement.

 _Call me selfish but there is no way I'm agreeing with that jerk._

"Gajeel's right," Erza says, taking a step forward, "Fairy Tail truly is lucky to have a mage such as yourself," She says, firmly, giving Juvia a look that is filled with warmth.

"Totally!" Natsu shouts in agreeance with Erza, "The Shadowalkers won't even know what hit em',"

Lucy nods in agreement, "You'll do great Juvia!" She says, giving her a warm smile.

Thank goodness for Erza, means I don't have to be the one to say 'I agree with Gajeel'.

 _Just thinking about the words left a sour taste in my mouth._

"Gray-sama?" Juvia asks me, her eyes filled with worry.

 _Crap. I spoke to soon._

"Uhhh," I start awkwardly, causing Juvia's eyes to start to fill with tears.

"Oi!" Gajeel says angrily, "You don't think she's gonna win!?" He says, taking an angry step towards me.

 _Freak, he looks angry._

"Everyone's right on the dot Juvia," I say finally, looking into her deep blue eyes, "You'll do great out there," I say, hoping that my eyes are showing everything I'm not saying.

Juvia gives one of her soft smiles, "It's ok Gray-sama," She says, then whispers to me, "I know you believe in me,"

I give her a smile of my own.

Then I look up to see both Gajeel and Natsu looking at me, smug smiles on their faces. Well, Gajeel's giving me a look of somewhere between smug and 'I kill you', and Natsu's looking at me as if he had just gained blackmail material.

 _And this is why I don't do relationships._

All of a sudden a loud voice rings throughout the stadium, "Hello everyone!" A voice says enthusiastically, "Are you ready for the Grand Magic Games to begin?!" He shouts into the microphone, which is replied to with screams of excitement.

"Well I hope you are, because we're moving on to the next round and I hope you will all help give these contestants a big welcome!" The announcers shouts, which is once again replied to with more screams.

 _Here we go._

"C'mon," I say, taking Juvia's hand, "We need to get you out there," I say, then start running without another word, Juvia following fast behind me.

"We'll be cheering for you Juvia!" Lucy shouts behind yes.

"Thank you Lucy-san!" Juvia shouts back, "Juvia promises to make you proud!"

Then we race are way to the opening to the arena.

"Everyone please welcome are first contestant...Ameonna from Shadowalkers!" The announcer screamed into the microphone as Ameonna walked out, a smug smile on her face as she waved to the crowd that was roaring with excitement.

 _How are so many people excited to see her?_

Almost immediately after a person came up to Juvia and quickly told her that she was next.

"You ready?" I asked Juvia, blocking out the crowd, focusing all my attention on her.

"M-hm," She said, positively, a smile on her face, "Juvia promises to make everyone proud,"

I quickly laid a soft kiss on her forehead, "You already have," I whispered to her, pulling away to see her cheeks tinted with pink.

I chuckled softly.

This is kind of fun...and I certainly don't mind doing it...I dare say I could get used to this.

"Now everyone!" The announcer began as the crowd simmered down, "Put your hands together for are next contestant. We all know her and we all love her! Give it up for the sweet, the beautiful, the talented...Juvia Lockser from Fairy Tail!"

Now the crowd might've gotten excited for Ameonna, but Juvia?

The crowd went _wild_. Everyone was cheering for the water mage, including me.

Juvia walked out to crowd, waving at them, a bright smile on her face.

 _That's my girl._

Once again after the crowd simmered down, the announcer began to speak again, "Ok, now we have a third contender in this event...everyone give it up for the mysterious girl...now we're not entirely sure who she is or where she's from or even how this is even possible but everyone...give it up for...Sylvia Lockser!"

The crowd went crazy.

Me?

I was confused.

 _What the hell?!_

* * *

 **Hey My Lil Donuts!**

 **Sooooo thoughts?**

 **I hope you're excited cause I am!**

 **This is where the drama begins!**

 **I've been waiting so long to write this chapter!**

 **I really really hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Also, can I get an amen for updating twice in two days?!**

 **like I feel so achieved lol!**

 **Leave your thoughts in the comments!**

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Buh-bye my lil donuts!**

 **Rissa**


	25. 22 - Let The Games Begin

**Enjoy!**

 _ **Chapter 22 | Let the Games Begin**_

* * *

 _ **Gajeel**_

"Lockser? Who is she?!" Levy asks me, her face contorted in confusion as we both look at the girl on the battlefield.

She wasn't the only one. Everyone looked at me as if I knew the answer.

"I don't know who she is," I said solemnly, "And judging from the look on Juvia's face neither does she."

I keep my eyes on the girl who is practically a replica of Juvia, watching her every move.

The crowd was going psychotic.

Although Gray's reaction was laughable. His face was filled with utter shock as he looked back at Juvia.

Juvia's eyes were filled with concern as well as suspicion as she watched the girl move towards her.

"Hey guys," Jet says from his position next to Levy.

 _What is it now?_

"We have company," Droy says, finishing his sentence.

 _Why do they sound like they're bout to piss their pants?_

I let out a disgruntled grunt as I turn around to look at what their talking bout.

 _What the?_

Standing in front of me was a person cloaked in black...just like the ones Gray and Juvia told everyone about.

"Oi!" I exclaim, walking towards the cloaked figure, "Who is she?!" I ask, my voice irritated.

 _No one's gonna mess with Juvia's name, especially if their tainting it._

"Why would I tell you?" The figure replies, their tone surprisingly snarky.

 _They askin for a death wish?_

"I know you know so why don't you just tell me before things get difficult?" I ask, cracking my knuckles while doing so.

"You already know who she is," The person replied, sounding just as ticked off as me," Her name is Sylvia Lockser,"

I scoff, "Like that's really who she is, Juvia has no relatives,"

"Well maybe you should use your brain," They suggest dryly, "But until you're ready to do that, I suggest you just sit back and enjoy the show," was their last word before walking up to me, Levy, and others, stopping at the wall that separated us from the battlefield.

I let out another grunt, this time in irritation, and turned my attention back to the arena.

 _They're not gonna tell me anything._

* * *

 _ **Juvia**_

I watched as both Ameonna and...Sylvia made their way towards the center of the arena, just like me, towards the referee.

"Ok ladies," The referee begins, "You all saw how the previous round went, this one is exactly the same, play fair," He says, then walks away from us leaving us three by ourselves.

"Sylvia," Ameonna says, a sick smile on her face.

 _They know each other?_

"Ameonna," Sylvia responds, her blue hair, just like mine, shining in the sun, her dark, blue eyes hardened.

"Beautiful day for a little friendly competition, no?" She asks, her eyes gleaming with challenge and something...dark.

"You never needed a reason to fight before Ameonna," Sylvia says, silently accepting the challenge, "Why start now?" She says, innocently.

 _It's almost like looking into a mirror._

Ameonna lets out a humorless laugh, "Oh you're so right Sylvy!" She exclaims, almost as if her and Sylvia are best friends.

Sylvia's eyes narrow as she looks at Ameonna, distaste filling her features, "Let's get this over with," She says coldly before walking towards station in the arena.

"Good luck," She says softly, her eyes filled with emotion, as she passes me.

It wasn't until she was a few feet away from me that I heard her whisper something I couldn't hear, but based off from the shocked looks on both Gajeel and Natsu faces...it was important.

I immediately re-focused my thoughts as I realized Ameonna had also departed from her spot next to me over to her station, it was time.

I looked over at Gray-sama as he watched me, his dark eyes filled with concern as he watched me.

His eyes were bearing something that I couldn't read, but it was something that I'd never seen before...it looked a like the way Gajeel looks at Levy.

Although I didn't know what it was...it was enough to fill me with strength.

 _I will not fail in front of the eyes of my beloved!_

* * *

 ** _Natsu_**

"Natsu?" I hear Lucy softly call my name, as I focus my attention on her...breaking out of the trance I was in.

"Natsu are you ok?" She asks me, her brown, beautiful eyes filled with worry.

"Yeah," I respond unintelligently.

Lucy's face softens as she looks at me, "Your face says something else,"

 _I can't hide anything from her can I?_

The thought brings a smile to my face.

"Ok your smile is seriously creepy," Lucy says, "What's going on?" She says, her previous front of softness gone replaced with all that is Lucy Heartfilia.

"Tonight," I tell her, an unspoken promise only the two of us know about.

Once again, her features soften as she looks at me, "Tonight," she confirms.

After hearing Lucy's response, my attention immediately diverts back to the arena.

I watch as the girl who could be identified as Juvia 2.0 makes her way to her spot.

 _Surely I heard her wrong..._

As my eyes scan the area, I find Gajeel's face who looks at me, shock apparent all over his face as our eyes connect.

His reaction is enough to tell that my thoughts about what I heard are correct.

And judging by all the other dragon slayers around, something tells me my talk with Lucy will be put off for a little bit.

 _I bet that person next to Gajeel can tell us exactly what is going on._

* * *

 ** _Unknown_**

"Ok everyone!" The announcer shouts through the lacrimas speakers, "Get ready because this match will begin in 3!" He shouts, and immediately the crowd joins in, "2...1!" He screams, and immediately Sylvia, Juvia, and Ameonna are on the move.

But not for their water tubs, at least not Sylvia and Ameonna...

 _Their after each other..._

I feel Gajeel tense up next to me as he watches Ameonna lunge for Juvia...but not before Sylvia stands right in her path.

 _Let the games begin..._

* * *

 **A:N**

 **Hey my Lil Donuts!**

 **So what do y'all think?!**

 **I'm sure you guys have figured out what type of fanfic this is by now!**

 **So who do you think is the person next to Gajeel?**

 **What do you think Sylvia said that caused that reaction from Natsu and Gajeel?**

 **And last but not least, who is flipping excited for Nalu?!**

 **Leave your thoughts in the comments below!**

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Buh-bye my lil donuts!**

 **Rissa**


	26. 23 - Anyone Can Fake A Smile

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _Ameonna_**

My eyes flashed with glee as Sylvia came speeding towards me. My blood pumped with adrenaline. I felt my insides fill with satisfaction at the mere thought of killing her.

 _Guess our plans will change a little bit._

Then, without warning, Sylvia stopped.

 _Why did she stop?!_

I felt frustration build up in me, threatening to explode.

 _I can't attack her unless she comes for me! Dammit!_

I looked at my guildmates who were already glaring at me, a warning to back off.

" _Focus on Juvia,_ " Rakurai's eyes seemed to be saying to me.

Then my mind flashed back to our talk from earlier.

 _Fine. If that's the way he wants it._

So be it.

* * *

 _ **Sylvia**_

Once _Ameonna_ realized I wasn't coming for her, she immediately switched gears to Juvia...who didn't flash an eye at us as she completely dominated the actual main point of the game. Her bucket was already close to being completely full.

 _Well, they didn't call her the rain woman for nothing._

I felt a smile tug at my face.

 _Ameonna may be my main goal, but there is no way I'm going down without a fight._

Quickly, I ran as fast as I could to my bucket and used my magic as discreetly as I could.

"Chikyū kyūban," I whispered under my breath, letting my magic do its work as my bucket slowly started to fill with water.

 _Great, I can keep that going as I deal with Ameonna._

Then I turned around to see Ameonna's bucket filled with completely with water before she turned around once again to face Juvia.

She isn't stupid. She knows that in order to stay in the games she actually has to participate in the round, which she did.

 _Makes my job all the easier._

* * *

 ** _Juvia_**

I felt my skin crawl, almost as if someone were watching me.

"Juvia look out!" I heard Gray-sama yell out to me.

Without even thinking about it, I paused what I was doing and turned around to see Ameonna coming at me.

Before I could react, though, she slammed into me a fist fused with magic.

 _From what Natsu-san and Lucy-san told me, she's definitely a water mage. She shouldn't be too hard for Juvia to defeat then. I can do this!_

I felt my figure being slammed into a wall, it hurt.

I screamed as I felt the connection, stone trying to forge itself with my body.

Then Ameonna let go. I fell to the ground, my face connecting with dust and dirt, some of the awful taste greeting my mouth.

I spit the awful taste out as I stood up, wiping my mouth as I did so.

I cast a glance towards my bucket that was filed with water, teetering at the top.

 _There's no way I can lose this, I'm surrounded by my element._

"Juvia Lockser," Ameonna said, breaking my concentration, "The rain woman," She said, smirking maliciously.

"That is not who I am anymore," I responded confidently.

 _Not since Gray-sama showed me the sun...showed me the light._

"Isn't it?" Ameonna called out, "Tell me, what really has changed about you, Lockser?" She asked me.

I cocked my head in confusion.

 _Can't she see how much I've changed? I'm happy for once in my life._

"So you're happy, boo hoo," Ameonna said, as if she were reading my mind, "You smile more often, what's the big deal?" She asked, then offering me a smile of her own that seemed beyond friendly, yet her eyes betrayed her, "Anyone can fake a smile, hun," She said, then gestured her head towards Gray-sama, " _He_ can fake a smile, you think they really care about you? You think _he_ really cares about you?" She asked me, her eyes glinting cruelly.

 _She thinks this will actually work?_

I lifted my head up high, "You're right," I said, not a speck of doubt in my voice, "I've seen all the fake smiles this cold world has to offer," I say, my voice darkening by the second, "So when I find one real smile, even if it's just one, I know I've found someone who really cares, so yes I do believe they care, unlike your selfish guild!" I screamed, before rushing her, returning her punch from earlier.

Her eyes remained solid, like she didn't think I'd fall for it anyway. Like she knew me and who I was.

 _How?_

Suddenly her eyes narrowed, she was angry. She pounced by back like thunder clapping of a lightning strike. Darkness started to fill the sky, clouds rushing in.

I felt my eyes widen.

 _Is she doing this?_

Ameonna cackled like a witch, "Do you know what Ameonna stands for?" She asked me, smirking, "Or at the very least to you know what originates from?" She asked again, pressing me for an answer as rain started to violently pour, "It comes from Rain Woman!" She screamed, "And they call _you_ the rain woman," She spat out in disgust, "You're nothing compared to me," She said, once again slamming into me with brute force.

Then it hit me.

 _How is she punching me? How is she able to hit my body?_

Ameonna once again smirked victoriously when she saw my face fill with confusion.

"Let's just say I learned from the best," She said, smirking maliciously before once again tossing me into a wall.

My body felt bruised and spent.

 _I've never felt like this before._

Her punches were strong, she knew she had to take me out with brute force. There would be no other way for her to defeat me, especially if she used my element against me.

She walked over to me slowly as my body hit the wall, like a lioness stalking its prey before striking.

Before she could attack me once more, though, a figure blocked it, standing in front of me.

"Sylvia," Ameonna grounded out, the rain immediately disappearing as the sun returned.

"You're digging your own grave Ameonna," Sylvia said, a grin forming on her face, "You do realize that _both_ of our buckets our now filled with water, and because you were so wrapped up in defeating Juvia, you failed to guard your own bucket," She said, her smiling brightening, "Oh and would you look at that, we only have ten seconds left,"

"What?!" Ameonna growled out, her head flashing towards her bucket, which was completely empty.

Mine wasn't empty, but it wasn't near as full as Sylvia's.

"You little-," Ameonna started, but was cut off when Sylvia slammed her fist into her stomach, followed by a kick and an uppercut to the face.

"You should've really paid more attention Ameonna," Sylvia said, smiling.

"And that's the match folks!" The announcer called out.

 _I didn't even realized he was talking about the match whatsoever._

"Can we please get some medics for Miss Locker," The referee called, stopping in front of me, Gray-sama and the others already ahead of him.

"Are you ok?" Gray asked me, his dark eyes filled with concern as he helped me sit up gently.

"It's time we figure out what the hell is going here," Natsu said, his dark eyes following Ameonna and Sylvia dangerously, before narrowing on the cloaked figure that walked over to Sylvia and brought her into a hug.

All of us watched as they whispered to each before pulling away quickly, almost as if they never talked to begin with, then without warning they turned and ran away.

"We need to find out where they're staying," Lucy said from her spot next to Natsu, "But first," She said, her brown eyes softening as they landed on me, "Let's get you fixed up," She said, offering me a warm smile.

"Here!" Wendy said, quickly running u to me, "This will make you feel better," She said, using her healing magic, a warm, tingly feeling spreading throughout my body.

I let out a relieved sigh, resting my head on Gray-sama's shoulder, who was still right next to me, his eyes watching Wendy and my reaction like a hawk.

I felt a soft smile grace my lips.

 _That went so fast, but if this is the result then I don't mind. At least I know Gray-sama cares._

* * *

 ** _Gray_**

Juvia's eye slowly started to close as Wendy continued to heal her.

"She should be good now, she just needs lots of rest," Wendy said, blushing a little when she saw Juvia asleep in my arms.

I felt myself smile small in response.

 _Still so innocent._

"Gray," A gruff voice came from above me.

 _Gajeel._

"Yah?" I responded.

"You have two options, go after those punks or take her to the hospital room to rest," He said, my head lifting up to me his red eyes.

"I'll stay with her," I said, my voice holding no room for objection.

 _I couldn't leave her._

Gajeel nodded at me in response, a tint of respect in his eyes, "You better take care of her or Mavis help I will have your ass," He said gruffly before walking away, Natsu and Lucy following behind him.

"You have my word," I said softly, before picking up Juvia bridle style and walking towards the hospital room, Erza and our other guildmates crowding around her.

"Make them pay," I said, a hunger for revenge as I stared down at the sleeping beauty in my arms.

Her injuries weren't as bad as Lucy's were from Minerva that one year, but she was still hurt.

But she still got hurt, and I didn't like that.

Not one bit.

* * *

 ** _A:N_**

 **Hey My Lil Donuts!**

 **Here's the next chapter!**

 **So what do y'all think so far?**

 **I'm trying to write the battles good, am I succeeding?**

 **I do want to point out Ameonna CANNOT READ MINDS! That moment was not magic, and I just wanted to make that clear.**

 **Let me know what you think in the comments below!**

 **PS: I've just launched a new fanfic called "Lucilia" which is focused on Nalu if any of you are interested!**

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Rissa**


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